A Doll's Life
by Satu-Ryuu
Summary: They had a rubber man, a marimo, a thief, a liar, a love cook, and soon they would gain a reindeer, an archeaologist, a cyborg, and a skeleton. So a doll joining the crew shouldn't be so wierd, right?
1. Chapter 1

Let's get this started!

I own nothing from one Piece.

Chapter One

_Tragedy befell my wife and child. The world stole them from me. Such a cruel beast she is, but I will have a family. I will have a daughter whom I may pamper and lavish, worship like the treasure she is. I will have a child that this world will never take from me._** ~ Taken from page one of Ryuuden the doll maker's journal.**

The low burning fire broke through the filthy windows of the workshop, banishing the only a small amount of the fast approaching darkness. The sun had just began to set, darkness barely overtaking the world. This slight darkness caused a decrepit look to swell around the old workshop whose architecture dated back nearly a hundred years.

A lone figure moved around inside the workshop.

"Father, I know you've only been gone a day, but I miss you terribly." The lone figures voice was rough and harsh. It sounded as though the simple act of speaking was causing two pieces of hard plastic to grind together. A sound that could not be human. "I can't wait for you to return. Because then. . . . . Because then. . . . . . Because then . . . . . . Because then you'll be able to make me alive and we'll be a real family. Just like you wanted, Father." The repetition in the figures speech was preceded by a jerking halt to all motions.

The low flickering candle light danced on skin made of cream colored satin. It shone on long hair made of threads of silk dyed the deepest of blacks. And it reflected off of perfect pastel green eyes made of the most carefully molded glass. This being moved in a bizarre jerky way, like a machine struggling to work. Slowly all of her motions halted and she stood still.

She looked no longer like something capable of moving, but of a perfectly made doll that had been positioned. And that is what she is. Nothing more, nothing less.

She is a doll.

Time moved on while the doll remained in position. Darkness finally fell and still no movement from the beautiful doll.

Slowly, the door to the workshop creaked open and in hobbled a man far from his prime. Gnarled hands carefully grasped a cane, as he made his way towards the doll. His body was hunched from age making him shorter then the doll. He gazed at the doll with a defeated sadness. How long has it been since he started his nightly visits? Even he couldn't remember.

With a lot of struggle and several fumbles, the old man managed to maneuver the doll through the house and into a bed. He sighed as his shaky gnarled hands began probing lines of thick black stitches marring the perfect satin skin. His fingers found a place were the stitches had torn. He mended them with a skill only gained by decades of practice. Once that task was completed, his gnarled hands carefully grasped a bow that was knotted tightly an inch below the hollow of her throat. With several tugs the bow came undone, leaving the old hands free to carefully unlace the silk ribbon. As the ribbon was unlaced a single opening that extended from just below where the bow had sat, when fastened, down between the dolls breasts to stop just above her naval where another bow sat. The man only unlaced the ribbons to just below the doll's breasts. Once that was done, he carefully pulled open the satin skin revealing what appeared to be a rib cage made of pure white marble.

Where the sternum should have been a type of latch took it's place. Hands carefully clicked the latch open, before pulling the left side of the marble ribs up just enough for a gnarled hand to slip inside.

His hand sifted through a cool gel like substance before clasping onto what he was searching for. With a care one would only show to the most fragile and expensive of objects, the old man pulled the object from the dolls chest. Strings of thick black twine pulled out with the object in the man's hand. The twine was melded with the sides of the object and vanished back into the doll's chest.

"Look's like your heart stopped again." The man's voice, gruff with age, echoed in the cold workshop. In his hand was something that was in almost the same shape as a human heart. It was made of metal that had rusted with centuries of existence. Swirls of tribal markings and runes from an unknown language covered the metal heart. Those old hands gently opened the metal heart to reveal three slots carved into the metal. Two of those slots contained gems made of a stone with no name, a stone that was virtually unknown to the world. These two stones colors shifted on their own at an uneven rate. Both stones shone with their own faint light. In the third slot was what appeared to be a glistening powder.

"That diamond didn't last you very long did it?" The man tipped the heart, allowing the diamond dust to dance down into the palm of his shaking hand. "I managed to get a bigger one this time, so hopefully you'll get a few more days out of it." He allowed the dust to flutter down to the ground before pulling out a diamond barely half the size of the two other stones. The diamond was slid into place. The heart was snapped shut. Slowly, a gentle hum filled the air as the markings on the rusted heart filled with a glistening white light. "There we go." The heart was replaced. The marble ribs were latched shut. The satin flesh was laced closed and the silk ribbon was tied into a tight secure bow.

The doll's glass eyes gained the shimmer of life before blinking. A smile spread perfectly painted pink lips showing beautiful white marble teeth.

"Hello, Gama." The doll sat herself up. She readjusted her top to cover her upper body again. The doll's voice sounded melodic now, not like grinding plastic, and her movements were fluid. " If you've come to see Father, you just missed him. He left yesterday morning and he won't be back for some time. He's gone to find the last of the life stones for me. So we can be a family! Isn't that great?" The doll stood from bed and began happily prancing around as she started doing odd chores.

"That's too bad, Marcy." The old man Gama's face was shadowed, his voice tight. "I wanted to speak with him before he left, but hopefully he'll be back soon." He forced a laugh. How many decades had he said this to her day after day? He was barely twenty when it started from what he could remember.

He was nearly ninety now.

Slowly the old man departed from the old workshop heading to his home. He didn't know what would be crueler. If he left her frozen as a doll, no longer alive to relive the same day over and over or if he continued to let her live like this? He'd decided that both were cruel. He'd decided that he would keep her alive till he himself died. Hopefully, he would die soon.

The next day, a single pirate ship cast it's anchor to the side of the island near the cliff where the old workshop stood.

"C'mon you guys! I'm hungry!" A boy in a red vest shouted from his seat on top of the ship's figure head.

"You wouldn't be hungry if you didn't eat all of our supplies!" an orange haired woman shouted as she slammed her fist into the back of the boy's head.

"It's not my fault I eat a lot!" The boy whined while the other three members of the crew gathered at the front of the ship.

"Oh yeah?" The orange haired woman's eyebrow twitched. "Then whose fault is it?"

"Sanji's." The boy said as if it was obvious.

"How the hell is it my fault!?" A blonde man shouted at the boy.

"You should have stocked more meat." Before the blonde man could retaliate, a man with a long nose cut in.

"Are you sure this island is inhabited?"

"Isn't it obvious?" A man with green hair said as he pointed to the workshop on the top of the cliff. "There's a house right there."

"That's not a house. It's a workshop." The orange haired woman said as she prepared to climb off the ship. "This island was famous for it's toy makers."

"Toy makers?" Long nose questioned as the rest of the crew left the ship.

"Yeah, a man named Ryuuden used to make dolls here, he stopped decades ago and now his dolls sell for several hundred thousand berris each." The group slowly worked their way up the trail, lead by the boy in the vest who was chanting 'meat, meat, meat, meat' to himself.

"If his dolls were so famous why'd he stop?" Long nose questioned again. The orange haired woman sighed aggravated.

"How should I know?"

"Well with the way you were talking, I assumed you knew the whole story."

"The only thing I know about him is the fact that his dolls sell for a lot! I don't care about the rest!"

"I don't care about dolls! I want meat!" The boy in the vest shouted throwing both arms into the air.

"I'm gunna agree with Luffy. We're here for supplies, not dolls." The green haired man said a hand cautiously placed on his swords. He could feel something just dancing on the edges of his senses. His eyes zeroed in on the workshop on the edge of the cliff. He could just barely see it from this angle. His eyes narrowed when he caught a glimpse of what could only be the blackest hair he'd ever seen. "Let's hurry up and get our supplies so we can leave."

"What's this?" The blonde smirked. "Are you scared, Marimo?"

"I'm not scared, Shit cook." His eyes searched for the person he'd seen, but couldn't find it. He turned to the blonde. "I've just got a bad feeling about this place."

"You mean the person watching us?" The blonde lit a cigarette and took a long drag from it.

"Yeah."

"W-w-what!?" Long nose began to shiver and look around rapidly. "Someone's watching us!?"

"Don't worry." The green haired man gave a vicious grin. "If they attack we'll be ready for them."

"Uh, guys?" The woman asked as she stopped in her tracks.

"Don't fear, Nami!" The blonde placed a hand over his heart while he stretched the other out to his side. "I'll defend you! No one shall lay a hand your beautiful body."

"Thanks, but that's not the problem."

"Hmmm? Then what is?"

"Luffy's gone." The phrase 'damn it' went through everyone's minds as they took off at a running pace up the path.

The boy in the vest who'd wondered from his friends, stood in front of the old workshop sitting on the cliff. His face was serious as he marched towards the door. He was a man on a mission. His hand grasped the handle to the door and he threw it open.

"Anyone home!?" No answer was given as he stepped inside the workshop. Rows of shelves filled with dolls and doll parts filled the front room. His eye's were drawn to a door that was partially open. "Hey! Anyone home!? I'm hungry!" The boy took a few more steps inside before pausing. "Guess no one's home. Man, and I'm still really hungry. I don't know if I'll make it the village."

"Hello?" A melodic voice asked from behind the boy. He turned around with a confused look on his face as he stared at the woman behind him. He noted the shiny clothe like appearance of her skin and the ribbon that was laced into her skin. His black eyes met her pale almost milky green eyes. They looked like glass and seemed almost empty. "Do you need something?" He blinked twice before grinning brightly at the woman. She gave him a small peaceful smile that didn't reach her glass eyes.

"Yeah. Can you tell me where the nearest restaurant is?" Her smile grew.

"How about I just show you? You look like the type to get lost."

"That'd be great! Thank you!" She began to walk off and he followed happily humming to himself and swinging his arms.

"I'm Marcy, Ryuuden's daughter. Who are you?"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'm a pirate!"

"A pirate?"

"Yup!" Her glass eyes flashed with something Luffy couldn't quiet figure out, but it looked a bit like curiosity.

"My father left yesterday morning, did you happen to see his ship on your way here?" There was a barely burning excitement in her eyes. "His ship's green like my eyes."

"Hmmmmm." Luffy thought for a long moment. "Nope! Haven't seen a single ship!" Disappointment flashed through those glass eyes. She didn't say another word as she led him down the path to the village. Luffy watched her from the corner of his eye. Something was off about her, but he couldn't figure out what exactly.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_Hundreds of millions maybe even billions of berris I've spent on parts to create my perfect child, but money will no longer get me the pieces I need. Blood will though. It will take gallons of blood to finish my child and I will smile as those gallons are spewing onto the ground._** ~ Page 80 of Ryuuden the doll maker's journal**

Luffy's grin never faded as he followed after Marcy. Even though his happy carefree grin stayed in place, he knew what was happening around him. He could see the looks the people of the town were throwing at him. He could feel the angered glares burning into his back once he and Marcy passed the people. He heard several people whisper about getting the guns, about not allowing a pirate to meddle. He wasn't the smartest person out there, but Luffy was not stupid. He could tell when people were getting ready to fight.

Marcy led the strange pirate without a word. There was a strange agony eating at the edges of her mind. This agony had started when she first witnessed this pirate and his crew coming to the island. The pain slowly became more noticeable as she entered the town. It grew in intensity as she saw familiar faces that belonged to people she didn't know. It was the same pain she got when she gazed at Gama. She knew the man was him, how could she not know who that boy was. She'd seen him every day since he was born, but hadn't he just turned eighteen? Why did he look so old and frail then? Is that how humans age? Marcy banished the thoughts from her mind and blockaded the pain. She'd think about it more later, but for now she was at the restaurant.

"This is the best one on the island." She turned to speak to the boy, only to stare at a blank space. The door to the restaurant slammed shut. Marcy blinked unnecessarily in confusion. Slowly her satin skinned hands opened the door allowing her pastel green eyes to roam the inside of the building. The majority of the people inside stared at her with wide confused eyes. A few looked at her before turning away to whisper to their neighbors. The only ones who didn't do either were staring in annoyance at Luffy. The boy was already shoveling insane amounts of food into his mouth. Marcy twitched. Humans didn't normally eat that much in such a short time, did they? She didn't know if it was safe for her to go near the boy now.

"Somehow I knew we'd run into him if we waited here." The orange haired woman said. A sweat drop running down her face.

"No kidding." The green haired man stated over the top of his cup.

"So Luffy, what uh exactly were you doing while you were gone?" the long nosed man asked. Said boy looked up from the food he'd taken from his friends.

"I met the lady who lived in that workshop near where we docked and she led me here." He paused for a long moment thinking. "That's it actually."

"Really? Then where is she now?" Orange asked.

"Hmmmm. I don't know. She was right beside me a few minutes ago."

"You bastard! How dare you run off on a lady kind enough to help your lousy ass!" The blonde man shouted from across the table.

"What are you so upset about? You haven't even seen her." The green haired man said before taking a long drink from his cup. "For all you know, she could be hideous."

"There is no such thing as a hideous woman! There are just descending levels of beauty for each age group!" The blonde shouted as the swordsman snorted.

Marcy twitched again as she gazed at the group. She no longer had any interest in these bizarre humans. Slowly she attempted to exit the building, but a shout froze her in place.

"Hey! There she is!" Her attention focused fully on the group that was now staring at her. "Come meet my friends, Marcy!" She shook her head 'no', but nearly fainted when Luffy's hand suddenly grasped the front of her thin cotton v-neck tank top. The hand was connected to an elongated arm. Humans couldn't do that, could they? No. They couldn't. Father would have told her if that was normal. This boy must be a freak of some kind. That's it! Luffy couldn't be human! He had to be some kind of freak or monster!

Soon the world rushed around her, blurring for a moment before she impacted with the edge of the table. It burried itself deep into her stomach. Her body folded over the edge slightly just before the force bounced her back off and she flopped helplessly to the cold wood floor. The world remained in focus, perfectly still. Not an ounce of pain coursed through her body from her stomach. No, pain was pulsing from the stitches along her spine that had torn open. A cool gel like fluid oozed from the newly split satin skin.

Slowly she stood herself up. She hand ended up with her back facing Luffy and his friends. She heard a gasp.

"Luffy! Look at what you just did! She's bleeding!" The woman behind her shouted.

"What? But She didn't hit anything sharp!"

"That's not the point!" Marcy turned around and faced the group in time for the woman to address her. "Please forgive him! He's an idiot!" Murmurs were rapidly growing louder as more people gathered around the restaurant.

"How dare you cause such harm to a delicate beauty! What were you thinking! Apologize! Now!" The blonde man slammed his foot into Luffy's face. "Is that any way to treat someone who was being friendly to you!"

"Yeah, that really does look like a serious wound you gave her." Long nose said as he watched the woman's thin cotton top slowly soaking with what looked like blood. Though the blood was more of pink color then a red and it seemed thicker then normal blood.

"We'd better do something quick. Looks like the town's people aren't taking that girls wound very lightly." The green haired man said as he gazed at all the people. Most of which now had some form of weapon clasped in their hands.

The people were outraged. Next to none of them knew the doll personally, but they all knew who she was. They all adored her. She was their treasure. The greatest achievement of the man they all idolized. She was more then that though. She was the poor tortured girl left in a lonely endless loop with a dream that could never be fulfilled. Most of the people didn't even know this living doll could bleed. That fact made the sight of her thick pinkish blood even more rage inducing. How dare a bunch shitty pirates come into their town and make their precious doll bleed? These pirates are all the same! All they do is ruin things. Kill without remorse and steal valuables. The older towns people had the same thought flash through their heads. Pirates stole treasure. The thing that gave Marcy life was worth hundreds of billions of berris. That could only mean one thing.

The pirates were here to steal Marcy's heart.

The people prepared to defend their precious doll.

"I'm sorry." Luffy said to Marcy who had remained still for the past few moments. "I didn't mean to hurt you." His face was serious, hat shadowing his eyes just slightly. The rest of the crew was tensed, ready for fight or flight. "We'll leave if that's what you want." Marcy gazed at him in wonder, her split oozing skin forgotten. For a single moment, barely a split second, the world around her came into full focus. She understood something she had long since forgotten, but the moment shattered and she returned to the place she was now and had been for nearly the last seventy years.

A gun shot rang out.

A single small stream of blood ran down from the graze wound now on Luffy's cheek. He didn't move, only looked deep into empty pastel green eyes. Marcy didn't break the gaze either.

"Get away from her you filthy pirate!" The frail old Gama stood in the split of the crowd. His gun drawn and smoking. It was already reloaded and waiting to fire. "I don't care who you are! Anyone who dares to lay a hand on our precious doll will suffer at our hands!"

"Look, Mister, it was an accident! Really! We didn't mean any harm." Log nose said with hands raised in a surrender motion.

"Quiet!" Another bullet was fired off. This one just barely missing the long nosed man. He turned pale and sank down in his seat. "We don't wanna hear your pathetic excuses!"

"All you pirates are here for is to steal the relic of life! Admit it!"

"L-look! We have no idea what you're talking about! All we came here for was supplies!" The orange haired woman shouted as she rose from her seat. "We have no clue what a relic of life is!" She took a step forward. Marcy's eyes left Luffy and gazed at the girl. "We're really sorry for hur-" the woman let out a yelp as the sound of a gun firing again echoed through the building. The entire crew jumped up and moved forward as the sound of a bullet impacting echoed. Drops of blood spattered onto the ground as the people all froze and took a step back. They hadn't meant to shoot the girl. They weren't killers.

Rage boiled over in all of the pirates as they looked from the fallen woman to the crowd of people. The green haired man drew two of his swords while Luffy's hands clenched into fists. The blonde haired man tapped the toe of his foot against the ground. Long nose kneeled next to the woman checking her.

"I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shoot. I really didn't mean too." The man who fired stuttered looking pale as a ghost. He dropped his gun. Luffy took a step forward only to have a cream satin skinned hand with nails made of white marble grasp his arm. The hand was cold and smooth. Instead of a pulse echoing out from her hand like a normal person's would, a low hum trickled from the appendage and into Luffy's arm. He gazed at her. Marcy's mouth was in a tight line. Her pastel green eyes flashed with a warning followed by a plea. Luffy noticed that curled around her wrist was a circle of thick black stitches.

"Please, they're just trying to protect me." She released his arm. "The girl's fine."

"Of course she's not fine!" Long nose shouted. "You guys just shot her!"

"N-no. She's right. I'm okay." The woman shifted herself into a sitting position. "I was just startled is all. I'm okay."

"B-but that bullet should have hit you! How can you possible be okay!?" Long nose demanded.

"It's because she did something right?" The green haired man stated more then asked as he locked eyes with Marcy, who simple nodded.

"She did something?" Long nose gazed intently at her.

"Yeah. See." The orange haired woman shifted so that everyone could see. One her stomach there was a single bullet engulfed in medium sized glob of pinkish red goo. "Marcy flicked it onto the bullet before it hit me. I'll probably have a bruise but nothing more serious then that."

"Uuuh. Okay. How exactly does a glob of slime keep you from getting shot?" Long nose probed the goo with a single finger.

"It absorbs impact. It made the bullet loose it's speed and force keeping it from actually hurting her." Marcy said in a dull voice. "My body full of the stuff and is

constantly making more. It's what's coming from the torn seam on my back."

"Oh right of course." Long nose nodded. "Wait! Seam!? What do you mean by seam!?"

"I'm a doll. Of course I'm going to have a few seams." Marcy pointed the ribbon that was laced through her skin and tied into a bow. "What do you think this was her for, fashion?" Long nose fainted.

"That's so cool!" Marcy backed away from the overly happy eyes of Luffy.

"A doll of such beauty before my very eyes! How wonderful!' The blonde surged forward clasping Marcy's hands in his own. "Such a marvelous creation. So crafted so perfectly to steal my heart with just a single gaze of those flawless eyes. You, my precious doll, are a toy I would never tire of playing with!"

"I really want to shoot that boy." Gama grumbled while everyone else felt drops of sweat run down their faces.

"Please do so quickly." Marcy mumbled as she attempted to inch away from the swooning man. The green haired man snort in laughter at her comment.


	3. Chapter 3

**I have a serious decision to make. Please help me.**

**Should Marcy be with Luffy or Zoro or someone else? Please help me with this because I'm not positive who I want to put her with, but I am leaning more towards Luffy.**

Chapter Three

_The world must enjoy my suffering. Whatever god exists must hate me. All I wanted was my child back. To look into bright happy eyes and hear her joyful laughter. Instead, I look into eyes of glass that are empty and listen to laugh that seems recorded. It seems I need all three stones to bring those eyes to life. But DAMN IT ALL I don't know where the last stone is!_** ~ Page 195 of Ryuuden the doll maker's journal.**

The Straw hat pirates watched in morbid fascination as the shriveled old man named Gama skillfully mended the seam on Marcy's back. Each perfectly and evenly placed stitch slowly pulling satin skin closed over a white marble spine. The blood like goo no longer oozed from the torn seam. Instead the goo, which they had been informed is commonly known as defense gel, had formed a thin slightly solidified film over the exposed spine.

After everyone had calmed down, it had been decided that it would be best for Luffy and his friends to leave the town for the time being. And so the pirates had followed Marcy and Gama to the little workshop on the cliff, Marcy's home. At first Usopp had made claims that the place was haunted which earned him a rather nasty look from Marcy and Gama. This only proved to further frighten the long nosed sniper. He quickly got over his fear once he began to examine some of the dolls in the front of the workshop. All of which were at least fifty years old but containing more advanced mechanisms than dolls made by any other person in recent years. Zoro was only slightly bothered by the sight of all the blank staring faces of the dolls with eyes that seemed to be watching him. He found it just moderately creepy and a little bit hard to ignore. Sanji almost instantly found a doll with orange hair and swooned over it's likeness to Nami. Nami ignored Sanji and immediately went to the section where the more expensive dolls were kept. She almost instantly tallied up the amount all of the rare dolls could sell for and came to the conclusion that she could get at the very least four million berris for them. Luffy was far more interested in Marcy herself than the dolls.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Usopp questioned as he watched the sturdy twine being pulled through satin flesh. He flinched every time the needle was pulled through.

"Nope."

"It looks painful. . . . Very painful." He cringed after Gama gave the twine a particularly hard tug.

"It isn't." Marcy sat with her front pressed against the back of a wooden chair. Her legs on either side of it and bare back facing Gama. "I can choose to feel pain or not to feel it. I'm a doll after all, I don't need to feel anything just like I don't need to eat, sleep or breath. I simply do because I want to or enjoy to."

"Who in their right mind would want to feel pain?" Nami asked, tearing her gaze away from the dolls.

"Yeah. If you don't have to then why would you?" Usopp furrowed his brows.

"It's not only pain. To cease feeling pain, I have to cease all physical sensations."

"So then would you just turn it off when you get into a fight or something?"

"No, Usopp. Think about it." Marcy tugged on another thin deep v-neck tank top once Gama finished closing her seam. "If I do that, how will I know when I've been wounded?"

"How would that be such a bad thing?" Nami questioned as she moved closer to Marcy.

"Hmmm." Usopp crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. "I think I get it. If you can't feel the wound you don't know how bad it is. So if it's a lethal wound you run the risk of suddenly being disabled or even dieing because you didn't do anything to take care of it." Marcy nodded at Usopp.

"I guess I understand." Nami shrugged.

"It'd be suicide for someone to fight when they can't feel pain." Zoro grumbled from his leaning position in the furthest corner. The single place where the dolls weren't covering the walls. "You'd just keep getting wounds until your body gave out. Besides pain's a good tool for learning."

"I don't know about that last part, but I want to be human." Marcy was staring at an old picture on the wall. In the picture was a man, a woman, and their child. The little child looked like a younger version of Marcy, except the eyes held a life and vitality that showed no traces of ever being in Marcy's pastel green eyes. "To do that, I need to feel everything a human does. So I need to feel pain. Everything that is used to define someone as being alive, I have to feel or experience."

A silence feel over everyone as they gazed at Marcy. It was a peculiar thing to be staring at someone who wanted the one thing they all had without even asking for it.

"Well, since you all got shot at, the very least I can do is make you all dinner." With that Marcy stood and headed for the kitchen, her long denim skirt swishing as she walked. "I cook for Father all the time, so don't worry. I'm actually pretty good at it." Marcy vanished around the corner.

"You did an amazing job with her. I didn't even realize she wasn't human until she said so." Nami said looking at Gama. He blinked at her.

"I'm only a family friend." He carefully took a seat. "I had no had hand in making poor Marcy, only learned how to mend her."

"Really? Then who's her father?"

"Some guy named Ryuuden, right?" Luffy asked scratching the side of his head.

"You're only saying that because of what I said back on the ship." Nami grumbled shooting him an annoyed look.

"No, the boy's right."

"Seriously?" Nami asked a look of disbelief on her face.

"How did he know that?" Sanji asked staring at Luffy like he was stranger.

"Probably just a lucky guess." Zoro said shrugging his shoulders.

"No." Luffy frowned. "She told me when I met her this morning."

"And you remembered it?" Usopp was more then a little amazed.

"Yeah." Luffy scratched at the side of his head again. "Was I not supposed to?"

"No. That's not the point." Usopp sighed.

"Then what is? I'm confused."

"Never mind that." Nami turned fully to Gama. "So Ryuuden made Marcy, but he hasn't been seen or heard from in decades. Has he just been hiding out and taking care of her for all this time?"

"He left yesterday on a ship the same color as Marcy's eyes." Luffy said while playing with puppet that looked like a perfect little wolf.

"And how the hell would you know that one?" Usopp grumbled.

"Huh? Oh! Marcy asked me if we saw his ship when we came here."

"Why does he remember everything she says, when he forgets what we tell him two seconds later?" Nami growled.

"I remember everything you say, my beautiful Nami." Sanji cried with hearts for eyes.

"That's because you're a love sick fool."

"You're just saying that because you're too thick headed to see the beauty and majesty in everything Nami does and says, you stupid Marimo!"

"There's nothing majestic about that she-demon, curly brow!"

"How dare you deny Nami's majesty!" Two violent lump inducing hits later and the two men sat with large bumps on their heads while Nami growled.

"May I finish what I was going to say or should I just continue to sit here quietly?" Gama asked as a sweat drop ran down the side of his face.

"Just ignore them." Usopp sighed. "I'll listen to you. I'm usually the only one that listens to these stories anyway."

"Alright then." Gama said slowly, still not sure what to make of these people. "Well, what the boy said, again, is true. But Ryuuden didn't leave yesterday."

"If he didn't, then how come Marcy asked if we saw his ship?" Usopp questioned with his head tilted.

"Ryuuden left over fifty years ago and died shortly after that." Gama looked towards the kitchen door. Faint humming could be heard accompanied by the smell of cooking food. "Because Marcy isn't human she doesn't exactly age. And because she isn't human, she can't properly handle the stress of tragedy. She couldn't handle knowing she'd lost her father and lost the opportunity to become human. She lost everything that day."

"What happened?" Nami wondered. Luffy watched Gama as the old man lowered his head slightly.

"Ryuuden left to hunt down the last life stone for Marcy's heart. With that final stone, Marcy will be as close to human as possible for her to be. That was the dream of her father Ryuuden, to make her human. It was also Marcy's dream, to be the best _human_ daughter she could be for Ryuuden." Luffy's hat showed his eyes. "The story is that Ryuuden had found the last stone, but someone else wanted the stones and relic of life as well. News of Ryuuden possessing all three stones and the relic reached that man, so he attacked and killed Ryuuden. They don't know what happened to the third stone. The assumption is that it's still on Ryuuden's ship since no one ever found the stone or the ship."

"They were so close." Nami whispered gazing down at the ground.

"That doesn't explain why she thinks Ryuuden left yesterday, though?" Usopp asked.

"It does though. You see, Marcy may be very close to being human, but she isn't. She was never meant to feel tragedy. Her mind didn't know how to cope with it, so it refused to accept it. Resulting in her remaining in a time when she was happy and their dreams were possible."

"So she's stuck in the day after her father left. Waiting for him to return to make her human and to be a family. How tragic." Sanji took a drag from his cigarette.

"But she has to have noticed that time's move on from then. That people have gotten older." Nami felt her heart ache for the doll.

"She has. Deep down, she knows that everything has crumbled around her. She knows that the world she's living in isn't right, but she's stuck there. The stress of remaining in that world of hers is causing her heart to burn through gems faster then she should even in the most strenuous conditions. I have to replace them every week at the least." After Gama finished talking a silence fell over them.

"Is there anything you can do to help her?" Nami whispered.

"Nothing that I haven't already tried. After I die, there'll be no one to maintain her and she'll turn back into a doll for good. The people decided that she'll be sealed away in an underground tomb so that nothing can damage her or take her heart."

"Have you tried telling her again? Maybe it'd sink in if you told her repeatedly. I mean something has to work." Usopp suggested, thinking hard.

"I did that for the first five years. It just caused her heart to burn through the gems almost instantly. Though she did seem to understand before her heart shut down."

"Then we'll just keep telling her until she understands!" Luffy shouted leaping from his place on the floor and rushing into the kitchen.

"Wait! That won't-" Gama never got to finish his sentence.

"MARCY! YOUR FATHER'S DEAD! HE'S BEEN DEAD FOR A LONG TIME! HE'S NOT COMING BACK SO SNAP OUT OF YOUR WEIRD TRANCE THING AND COME BACK TO REALITY!"

"W-what?" Everyone rushed into the kitchen. Their jaws dropped at what Luffy shouted at the poor doll.

"What the hell are you thinking, you dumb ass!" Nami slammed her fist into the back of his head.

"Why would you scream that at the poor girl!" Sanji shrieked, looking ready to beat down his captain. "You have to tell women things in a more compassionate manner!"

"Gama just said that telling her didn't work!" Ussop couldn't believe Luffy's stupidity at the moment. He was doing so well earlier.

"I'm not sure screaming at her like that is really going to do anything to help her." Zoro said as he took in the wide eyed appearance of the doll standing before them.

"SHUT UP!" Everyone blinked at Luffy's out burst. "MARCY! STOP BEING STUPID! YOUR FATHER'S DEAD. HE'S NOT COMING BACK SO JUST MOVE ON! YOU CAN STILL BE A HUMAN THAT HE'D BE PROUD OF, BUT YOU HAVE TO MOVE ON! UNDERSTAND!"

The world around Marcy swirled and danced. Hundreds of images and thoughts flashed before her eyes in rapid succession all the while Luffy's words played through her mind, booming over the hundreds of times Gama had said those words as well. A throbbing pain erupted in her skull. Then everything stopped. The world snapped into focus and her eyes locked onto the serious expression of Luffy. Her gaze moved to Gama and a stream of images flooded her eyes. It was almost a movie of sorts, images playing in reverse. Hundreds of images of Gama, all going from the way he is now back to the way he was the day he first told her that Father was dead and she had no chance of becoming a human daughter he could be proud of. Gama had gotten older. Everyone had gotten older, but she had stayed the same and remained stuck in some stupid fantasy world. Suddenly the pain and agony of losing her father and their dream burned through entire body. A sharp twitch wracked her body and then she froze. The hum of her heart faded away. She knew no more.

They had watched the realization burn in her eyes. They saw the sudden pain fill her and they watched as her heart burned out in front of them. She was a perfect doll made of satin and silk standing before them. Not a single trace of life in her entire being.

"I told you. This happens every time someone tells her." Gama sighed. "Help me get her to the bed, please."

"I'd be more then happy to carry th-"

"Which way is the bed?" Zoro cut Sanji off with his question. He had Marcy thrown over his shoulder.

"I was going to do that you bastard!" Sanji shouted and stomped his foot. "And don't carry her like that! She's a delicate doll that should be handled with the utmost care and delicacy!"

"She's a doll." Zoro deadpanned. "She can't feel anything right now anyway."

"How can you be so cruel!" Sanji followed Zoro and Gama out of the room shouting.

"Luffy, Why'd you do that, anyway? Gama said it wouldn't work." Ussop gazed at their captain in curiosity as they followed after Gama into the bed room.

"Cause she's being stupid and someone needs to tell her that."

"What do you mean she's being stupid!?" Gama rounded on Luffy anger making his aged body shudder. "She lost her father and her dreams! What do you expect her to do!?"

"That's why she's stupid." Luffy looked Gama in the eyes. "Her dad might have died, but she can still become human and be a daughter that he would be proud of."

"She can?" Gama looked from Marcy to Luffy and back. "How? She'd need the last stone, but no one knows where it is."

"You said it was probably on her dad's ship right?" Gama nodded. "Then tell me where his ship was when he was killed." Gama held Luffy's gaze. He debated for a moment before coming to a decision.

"It was on the Grand Line." Almost in unison every one of Luffy's crew knew what he was thinking.

"Then she'll join my crew and come with us to the Grand Line!" Luffy announced.

"Not a chance." Gama said immediately without blinking. Luffy let out a whining sound.

"Why not?"

"Why do you want her to join your crew anyway?" Gama demanded.

"She's cool!"

"You don't even know if she can fight."

"Can she?"

"Well, yes, of course. Ryuuden built a multitude of retractable blades into her body and a few other things for battle and WHY THE HELL AM I TELLING YOU THIS!?"

"Retractable blades?" Luffy blinked a few times before a grin split his face. "That's soooo cool! What else can she do?"

"Well, since she doesn't need organs or anything, she has several different organs that hold a multitude of things. For example there's one that holds a highly flammable oil that she can turn into a gas and exhale while igniting it with a spark she can make by gnashing her teeth together. It's about the same effect as a flamethrower and GOD DAMN IT! STOP MAKING ME DO THAT!"

"He's not making you do anything, Mister." Ussop whispered as a sweat drop ran down his face.

"Oh wow. She's definitely joining now!"

"I SAID NO!"

"Whyyyyyyyyyy?"

"BECAUSE I SAID SO DAMN IT!"

"When can she join then?"

"Never."

"What? That's not fair! Tell me when!"

"I said NEVER!"

"I refuse to accept that!" Luffy crossed his arms and frowned. "Tell me when she can join!"

"Fine! You wanna know when she can join your crew?" Luffy nodded with a massive grin. "If you get her out of her endless cycle for good then she can join your crew!"

"Alright! That'll be easy!"

"Exactly what part of that will be easy!?" Nami shrieked at Luffy before turning to Gama. "And aren't you supposed to be restarting her heart or something?"

"DAMN IT I FORGOT!"

"HOW'D YOU FORGET THAT!?"


	4. Chapter 4

**I loved the reviews. Actually I was frightened when I saw I had gotten more then 2 since the last time I checked. I was positive it would be a bunch of hate, but it wasn't! Haha! So as thanks for the love, I wrote more then I intended to!**

Chapter Four

_I feel as though I may have become a monster. I'm abandoning my precious child to search for something very few have ever heard of. I have a good lead, but will this all be worth it in the end? This last stone won't make her human, I understand that. Maybe I'm just being selfish? She's a doll. Nothing more then fabric, stone, and glass. How could she ever truly be human?_ **~ Page 239 of Ryuuden the doll maker's journal.**

Was this a dream? She wouldn't know, she'd never had a dream before. Doll's don't dream because they don't sleep. Marcy never slept. She didn't like sleeping. While humans relaxed in sleep and enjoyed odd dreams of fantasy worlds, Marcy was simply thrown into a black abyss. For her sleeping was like being sealed inside a small box with no holes for light. It was lonely and frightening. The abyss scared Marcy.

So here she stood. Watching yet another sea of flickering images that played like an old soundless movie. Aside from the pictures, the world was dark. The images flew through her life from the day she first opened her eyes to the moment she bid farewell to her father. After that, the flow of the images became jerky. It replayed that scene several times before moving through the rest of the day. The next day froze and sputtered at a time late in the morning. The moment when Marcy saw Luffy at her house. The images moved back to just after she said good bye to her father then to her walking back to her house later that morning to see Luffy at the door. That scene then flowed through the events of that day, but stopped abruptly while she was cooking dinner for her new friends. There where no images just a bright light that burned her eyes. Muffled shouting tore through the abyss behind the wall of flicker scenes, but Marcy couldn't understand a word of it.

Pastel green eyes of glass snapped violently open. They stared at the ceiling, while images shifted through her head until they fell into place to form a play that was compatible with her world. Once that process finished, a small flicker of life returned to the glass eyes and she sat up with a gentle smile. Her father had left to fulfill their dreams and she had made amazing, although very weird and confusing, new friends. All in one day! How wonderful. She couldn't wait till her father got back home to tell him about her new friends. She'd have to ask him if it was normal for people's arms to stretch or for someone's nose to be that long. Her father would probably want to meet them too. Maybe they would come visit her again in the future. Or maybe she could get Father to take her out to sail the seas! That would be the most amazing thing, to meet more bizarre people like the pirates she just met. Are all pirates like them, she wondered. Marcy knew some where terrible people, but maybe there were a lot more pirates like Luffy and his crew out there.

As fast as she could, Marcy changed her clothes. Tossing off the one's she was wearing before pulling on fresh clean ones. She pulled on a long sleeved gray shirt that reached a fell a few inches below her butt. Her shirt once again had a deep v-neck. It dipped down enough to show the majority of the laced up ribbon on her front, but it was not wide enough to show more then the laced ribbon itself. A small portion of her bright purple bra peeked out. Underneath the shirt she wore soft brown leather pants that tucked into a pair of periwinkle colored leg warms. She had small black ballet style shoes on her feet. As she rushed out of the door she pulled her deep black silk hair up into a high ponytail. A few strands framed her face while a few more shorter strands decided to stick up at a bizarre angle.

Marcy ran for Gama's house, a smile stretching her mouth a bit more then usual. People turned and stared at her. Their eyes wide and jaws dropped. They'd never seen her wear an outfit like that, no she usually wore the same thing. Actually she always wore the same thing and she never pulled her hair up. That wasn't what startled them the most. No, what amazed them and confused them was the smile on her face. It didn't entirely reach her eyes, but it came closer then anyone had ever seen. Marcy sprinted past them, her hair whipping around behind her like black smoke. Each of her steps making a thundering echo as they met the cobble stone road. Her astounding two hundred fifty pounds of body weight not slowing her fast run though it caused the vendor stalls that she passed by too closely to shudder. After she rounded a corner far to sharply, nearly colliding with a tree, the people turned to each other and began whispering. They weren't positive on what to make of what they just witnessed. A woman who looked to be well in her eighties grinned wide enough to stretch her sagging skin tightly across her face before she let out a witch like cackle.

"Grandma, why are you laughing?" The tiny girl holding the older woman's wrinkled and spotted hand asked with wide curious eyes.

"Pirates! Who would've thought _pirates _would get her to smile like that!" The child looked even more confused. The people who heard the woman looked at her with a small smile of their own. "Didn't quiet reach her eyes, but it's more then I've since I was you're age, Mina."

"I don't understand, Grandma?" The little girl, Mina, looked in the direction Marcy had ran. "Wasn't that the doll lady that lives in the old workshop?"

"Indeed it was." The woman nodded. "I feel like dancing." The woman grinned while the people near her sweat dropped. "Come, Mina, let's go home and blare some good dancing music."

"But, Grandma, the doctor said you need to be careful cause of your hip, remember?"

"Screw the doctor!"

A loud crash that consisted of the sound of snapping wood and cracking stone filled the air. A tremble shook the building with the intensity of a small earth quake. Sanji paused in his breakfast making to look around. Nami lowered the paper she was reading and blinked. Ussop lowered his slingshot and raised his goggles from his eyes. Nami opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by old man Gama flying past them. The three blinked in surprise. How could he move that fast if he was that old? Almost reluctantly they followed after Gama and outside. Sanji placed the finished breakfast on the table before following, he was going to assume that whatever caused that tremor was Luffy's fault. It usually was anyway.

"What exactly am I looking at?" Nami questioned as she looked at. . . A bare foot sticking out of a pile of shattered wood and crushed stone. The foot twitched twice before the rubble shifted slightly. The foot wiggled a few times more before suddenly being pulled entirely into the pile of rubble. Sweat ran down the side of everyone's face.

"You think that's Luffy in there?" Ussop asked carefully watching the shifting pile of rubble.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was." Sanji exhaled a cloud of rippling smoke. Gama came rushing over with a shovel and began to dig away at the pile. He didn't move more then a few tiny pieces of stone and wood each time. Gama began wheezing with the effort after a few moments.

"Should we help him?" Nami tilted her head staring at Gama.

"Yeah, he looks like he might die with the effort." Ussop watched as Gama tugged feebly on a portion of wood. Almost in no time Sanji and Ussop had the pile of rubble cleared. Nami sat with Gama since Sanji said he would do the work for her. From the tiny bit of remaining rubble, Marcy shot into a sitting position. She was smudged with dirt and littered with splinters of wood. Her eyes were wide, well one of her eyes were wide. The other one was sitting on the ground near Ussop's feet. He froze staring at the eye and he could swear it was staring back at him. Which it kind of was seeing as it was just an eye. He shivered. This was just plain creepy.

"Nobody move!" Marcy shouted quickly standing up and looking around. "I need to find it so don't move!"

"Uhh. H-here." With a shiver of disgust Ussop picked up her eye and held it out to her and far away from himself. The eye was cold and had a thin layer of that gel stuff around it.

"Hmm?" Marcy stared at his hand blankly. "What's that?"

"It's your eye!"

"My eye? But I'm not looking for my eye!"

"Then what are you looking for?"

"My shoe." Marcy held up her bare foot and gave it a wiggle. "But am I really missing my eye?"

"How did you not know you're missing an eye?" Nami shouted looking amazed and disturbed all at once.

"They're not really attached or anything so I'm kind of used to one popping out. I don't really notice it anymore. Besides I've got a whole box of them back home."

"That's just weird."

"No. What's weird is when a limb comes off!"

"Can you please just take your eye already!" Ussop shouted. He was tired of holding it and it was really starting to freak him out. Marcy snatched it from him. There was a slick popping sound and Marcy's eye was back in it's socket. The eye rolled a few times before settling into the proper place. Ussop shuttered. He wasn't sure he could get used to seeing something like that.

"Marcy~! I found your shoe." Sanji danced over to her with her ballet slipper in his hands. She shifted back a step. "Please, allow me to slip this on your dainty foot." He kneeled in front of her and she twitched a little disturbed.

"Sure?" Marcy lifted her foot for him. He grasped her ankle and slide her shoe onto her foot, but paused. Coursing from her ankle and into his hand was a soothing hum. He frowned. The hum held a tragic note. It trickled through his veins and buzzed through his fingers. Sanji released her ankle and stood. He stared down into her pastel green eyes for a moment. He could almost see that tragic hum shimmering in their depths. There was an innocence, a childish dependence and vulnerability that spoke volumes to him. Sanji sighed and turned back towards the door of the house.

"C'mon. I made breakfast." He glanced back at Marcy and held his hand out to her.

"Okay." Marcy blinked before clasping onto his hand in a way that a young child would grab their siblings. "I don't actually need to eat so the only things I do eat are usually sweets or fruits. I like those." Sanji smiled.

"Then I'll make something sweet for you instead."

"Really?" He nodded. "Thank you!" Sanji opened the door for her with a florish and smile. Marcy giggled before bowing at him and hopping through the door way.

"Did you see that?" Ussop and Nami looked at each other blinking.

"Yeah. . . He didn't go all gaga. . . Instead he did that. What do you even call that?" Nami was a little more then startled. Sanji may have been the newest member of the crew, but she was certain that Sanji swooned and flirted with all women no matter what. The way he acted then, it was almost like he was treating her like a child. Why would he do that though? Only a split second before he had been his normal flirty self and then he touched her and that happened. Maybe something happened that they couldn't see when Sanji grabbed her ankle. That was the only explanation.

"It's like he changed when he touched her." Ussop pondered out loud. "Maybe she's cursed and she put a spell on him!" Nami's fist slammed into the back of Ussop's head.

"Think before you speak." She hissed. "No, it was like he realized something, but what?"

"He probably felt her heart beat." Gama said from behind the two. Both jumped and screamed. They had forgotten the old man was out there with them.

"Don't do that!" Ussop shouted at the old man who merely blinked confused.

"Do what? Speak?" Gama looked offended. "That's a terrible thing to say to your host."

"I meant sneak up on people!"

"I'm almost 90 years old! I walk with a cane and I wheeze like a half dead cow! My joints even creak! How the hell could I sneak up on someone!?" Gama shouted waving his cane in Ussop's face, just brushing the boy's long nose with the end of it.

"That old!"

"At least I was attractive in my youth! You and your nose there will never be anything more then weird!"

"How dare you say that to me! The great captain Ussop! Why this nose-"

"Shut up already!" Nami's fist met the back of Ussop's skull.

"Why didn't you hit him too!" Ussop shouted cradling his head while Gama grinned a nearly toothless smile and made a peace sign with his gnarled fingers.

"He's an old man and he's our host. Plus, he promised to show me the island's gem mines!"

"Greedy witch."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

"That's what I thought."

"Hrmph. So what were you saying, old man, something about her heart beat?" Gama looked up from the butterfly he'd bent over to examine.

"Huh? Oh yes. That. Marcy doesn't have one. It's more like a song being hummed. Though it can usually only be felt when you tough her skin. When her emotions are very strong then you can actually hear it, but that's very rare." Gama made his way into his house only to be greeted with the sight of Marcy snickering at Luffy who had several large lumps on his face. "What happened?"

"Hmm?" Marcy turned to look at Gama. His eyes widened at the shimmer of joy in her eyes. It had yet to over take the emptiness in them but that joy was slowly growing. "Apparently, Luffy ate all the food Sanji had cooked for everyone for breakfast so Sanji kicked him a few times. It was pretty funny!" Gama moved to stand as close to Marcy's side as he could without touching her and listened. "What are you doing, Gama?"

"Nothing." Gama listened harder. "Marcy, tell me. What happened yesterday?" Sanji paused for a moment in his cooking. He had to make a second breakfast and a dessert since Luffy ate all of it. That bastard. Luffy looked up blinking a few times.

"Don't you remember? You were there for most of it."

"I know, but humor an old man will you?"

"Okay. Well, Father left early in the morning and then after saying goodbye I headed back home. Then I found Luffy standing in the door to my house. I took him to the restaurant where we met Sanji, Nami, Ussop, and Zoro. Luffy did his weird stretchy thing and hurt me accidentally so you shot at him and then it was all explained or whatever and I made them dinner. . . I think."

"Nu-uh!" Luffy shouted making Marcy blink confused. "That's not what happened! Your da-" Sanji's foot slammed into Luffy's face.

"Uh? What's going on?" Ussop sweat dropped before glancing at the giggling Marcy.

"Luffy ate all the food while we were outside, but don't worry my dearest Nami. I've already started preparing another meal for you."

"Thanks." Nami waved him off.

"What about me?"

"What about you?" Sanji dead panned. "Also, Marcy was telling Gama what happened yesterday. She said her father left and then she met us." Sanji lit up another cigarette before turning back to his cooking.

"She still thinks her father left yesterday, but we've been added to it. That's progress right?" Nami asked. Sanji simply shrugged his shoulders while Ussop nodded. A loud yawn sounded through the room.

"Was there an earth quake?" Zoro rubbed at his eyes before taking a seat at the table. Everyone felt sweat run down their faces while Marcy let out a loud bark of a laugh. It was far from the melodic sound she usually made. It was so different that it startled everyone. They blinked at her, before joining in. Faintly, Gama could hear the slightest sound of a humming tune.

A single cloaked figure sat on the edge of the cliff. Behind him was an old workshop that had seen better days. He was waiting. Waiting for the doll to return to it's home. It was laughable, that toy being treated like a human. It wasn't. It was pathetic. It could easily be torn and broken. The figure grinned in almost a deranged manner. He couldn't wait to break that doll. His captain wanted it's heart and he would return with it. He had to swallow down his laugh, didn't want anyone to hear him now did he.

From inside his cloak he pulled an emerald green notebook that was battered and worn. On the front was scrawled the name _Ryuuden_ in faded gold letters. His captain had been so pleased when the figure found this book that he assigned the cloaked figure the duty of going after that man's pathetic attempt at creating a living doll and retrieve the relic with the other two stones so that they could be used for his captain's purposes. Why did some stupid doll need to be alive anyway? It had no purpose and no future. His captain did however have such a great plan for the future. There was no question on who deserved them more.

Slowly night fell. The figure waited calmly. And soon his waiting paid off. The doll in all it's useless glory wandered up the path to the workshop. A smile on it's pretty face. Well, that smile won't be there for long.

The cloaked figure vanished.

Marcy couldn't help but smile as she headed for her home. Today had been wonderful. She thought she would be lonely with her father gone, but she had had more fun today then she ever remembered having. Marcy hoped that tomorrow would be just as much fun. Suddenly, Marcy's smile vanished. She was no very much aware that someone was nearby and she was very much aware that they had drawn a weapon. And then she felt it.

A horrible stinging pain blooming from her throat where a blade had just been slashed across it. Satin skin split open and reddish gel began to seep from the wound.

A laughter of pure ecstasy filled the air. The cloaked figure stood to her left with a wild grin on his face and his eyes flashing.

A tiny 'snik'ing type of sound was hidden by the laughter. Shortly after Marcy opened her mouth and a torrent of flames beat onto the ground where the man had stood. The flames ended with a snap of Marcy's jaw and the man laughed again.

She threw her body to the left just in time for her right arm to feel a grazing bite from a short blade. Marcy moved to strike at the man, but instead to felt her marble skull crack slightly under the brutal force of a well aimed blow. Her body fell to the ground. She was in pain and her world was swimming.

Another blow the same as before slammed into her head. The ground beneath her skull cracked along with her skull.

One more blow again to her skull. The marble gave way and a glass eye cracked. Several shards fell free to the ground.

Marcy disconnected her pain receptors and with a speed the man hadn't been expecting she landed a punch directly to his sternum. She felt it bend under her blow, but not break.

"Filthy piece of shit!" The man screamed before he grabbed hold of her right arm. "I'll teach you to hit me!" He brought his short blade down onto her arm at the place where her shoulder seams were. The seam split like tissue paper. The marble bone was only nicked by the blade. She swung her left hand at him only to receive a blow to the face with such intensity that she felt her marble teeth crack.

A blow was then delivered to her shoulder.

Her right arm came off with that and was thrown to the side. He laughed like this was the most fun thing he'd ever done. And it was. He was enjoying breaking this pathetic fool's _daughter! _

He wrapped his hand tightly around her throat and brought his grinning face frighteningly close to hers. His crazed eyes met a shattered glass eye and a frightened whole one. Slowly he brought his free hand up to her face and began to carve out Marcy's unbroken eye. She struggled the best she could, but one arm left her with few options.

Her eye came out and he threw his head back and laughed. With her left hand, her only hand now, she looped a finger through a seam on her left thigh. A hard tug on those stitches caused three spike like blades to split the seams on the bottom of her left foot puncturing cleanly through her shoe. The blades fell free, sticking out about a foot each. Marcy pulled her leg up and buried them deep into the man's gut. He roared in pain and anger.

Her left leg was then taken off at the knee.

"I'm going to rip that precious heart out of your pathetic chest and you know what I'm going to do after that?" He brought his face closer to hers again. "I'm going to hang your filthy body in the middle of that town down there for everyone to see!" He laughed again bringing his blade back and slamming it into her marble rib cage.

The loneliness and pain of the last fifty years suddenly flooded Marcy's body. Her father was dead and gone. Her world was shattered and now she was going to die. She was going to die before she had a chance to actually live and she was going to die alone. All alone. She didn't want to die. She really didn't. She wanted to live and have adventures. She wanted to make friends. She wanted to be happy and not so alone. Was anyone going to help her? Her world suddenly ended. She knew no more.

The man in his hand held a rusted old relic of metal. There were strands of thick twine hanging snapped from the relic.

A large hole was carved roughly in the now ruined doll's chest. The entire left side nearly gone. Massive rivets of reddish gel oozed to the ground. Her shattered eye had a single small drop of water caught in a crack just above her eye lid. That drop fell free and rolled down the doll's cheek.

The man gave the doll's body a light toss upwards. He allowed the body to thud to the ground before curling his fingers tightly into perfect deep black silk hair. He whistled a happy tune as he slowly made his way down the path to the village. Marcy's limp shattered body was dragged by it's hair after him.

As the sun began to relight the world, it gleamed off of the cloaked man's crazed grin.


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter took me a lot longer to write then I meant it too, but I had like six different ideas on how it would go. It was hard for me to choose one. Also, I apologize for lame fight scene. I'm not so good at writing fights with characters that aren't my own. Sorry, please forgive me.**

Chapter Five

_For the sake of my daughter, I've done terrible things. I'm among the worst, but can you blame me? It doesn't matter now. I know my end is near. All of my horrible deeds are catching up with me. I regret the life I have lived thus far and only hope my daughter will live a life without regrets._** ~ Final entry in Ryuuden the doll maker's journal.**

The people woke with the sun. Each was prepared to do their day's duty. Unlike any other day, they all could feel it. A hum rippling through the air that spoke of a great change coming. Small smiles pulled at their faces, even the children were more energetic. No one could wait for the change to start. They all knew it would involve the villages precious doll, even the children spoke of playing with Marcy and her new pirate friends.

It was just too bad that they went outside.

Before the sight could be registered, children were scooped up by their mothers and hauled inside. The mother's cooed soothing words to their children as the young ones began to quake. Some men armed themselves while other's could only stare.

Before them stood a man in a cloak. His hood was down now. Expanses of flesh were bolted and stretched to plates of metal. One eye was some sort of metal contraption while the other was human. The teeth in his wide crazy grin were large metal shark like teeth. On the expanses of metal were bizarre runes that perfectly resembled the ones carved into Marcy's heart. Tattooed into the side of his face that remained as human flesh was "METAL". None of that was what the people truly noticed. What had their attention was Marcy's heart hanging from the man's belt like some sick trophy. More then that was the broken and tattered body of Marcy laying in a careless heap before the man. He rested his feet on top of her. He looked perfectly content.

The people had never been so angered before. Never in the history of their town had everyone been enraged and broken over the same thing. It was an instant and unanimous decision made without a single spoken word or a look. All the people that had gathered to stare at the horrific sight knew what they had to do. They couldn't let someone get away with hurting their villages treasure.

And so, they attacked the man.

If Marcy was just a doll, then why was she still aware? If the only thing that gave her life had been ripped from her body, then why could she hear fighting? No, it wasn't fighting. She could hear a massacre. She should have been reduced to nothing more then a doll now, so why could she hear this horrible sound? Why was she left aware of what was happening and yet she could feel no body for her to move and use to protect her precious villagers?

A set of swords blocked the crazed man's thick short sword before it could pierce another villager. The man who had just been saved sat there wide eyed and sweating.

"Hurry up and get out of here." Zoro growled around the sword clenched in his teeth. He barely looked at the man he'd saved from the corner of his eye. The man swallowed thickly before getting up and rushing off.

"Marcy. . ." Old man Gama slowly made his way towards the broken doll. Tears rolled down his wrinkled face before dripping from his chin and to the ground. The people watched silently, they all knew how close Gama was with the doll. Their hearts broke further as they witnessed the aged man fall to his knees next to her broken body. His pants became cold and soaked through with slightly solidified gel that was still gently slipping from the open cavern that was once her chest. He grasped her remaining hand with his age deformed hands as a sob choked it's way from his mouth. Her hand was just as cold and soft as the satin flesh had always been, but it didn't hold that gentle hum. It was just a perfectly crafted hand attached to the violently mutilated remains of a once beautiful doll. A portion of the villagers moved to try attacking the man again. They couldn't bare to see Gama's pain any longer. A hand was thrown out in front of them.

"Don't. You'll just get killed." Sanji blew a cloud of smoke from his mouth, not even turning to the people as he spoke. They growled in defiance.

"You want us just to let that bastard get away with what he's done?!"

"No. We'll handle this, You just stay alive." With that Sanji moved forward. He stood near Zoro in front of the man who caused all of this. The man watched them with an excited grin. His eyes then flickered to Luffy. The boy's face was shadowed by his hat as he frowned. He moved to stand just behind the sobbing Gama and broken Marcy. Luffy knew she could be fixed. She was a doll and doll's could be repaired, but she could feel pain. Luffy could only imagine what kind of pain she had felt when that guy ripped her to pieces like this. Had she remembered what was really going on in the world around her? In the remains of her broken eye, Luffy could see that empty loneliness. The look of something lifeless. He decided that he hated that look.

"That bastard. Who do they think they are." A man growled angered. Why should they trust a group of pirates with avenging their precious Marcy.

"They might not look it, but those three are strong." The people turned to Ussop and Nami. "They defeated Arlong and his men so their's no way they'll lose to a freak like that guy." Nami stated calmly as she clutched her staff in her hands.

"They beat Arlong?"

"Yup. Those three are monsters!" Ussop laughed. "Of course they wouldn't have managed it without my help."

"You're kidding right?" A few villagers mumbled, looking at Ussop with disbelief.

"Of course I'm not!" Ussop shouted before calming down. "Anyway, if you really want to help, then get your wounded friends out of here." The people nodded and with the help of Ussop and Nami they began to pull their wounded friends out of the way.

"Why?" Gama's hoarse voice whispered. "Why this? Why now? My poor Marcy."

"What a stupid old man!" A cackle tore free from the man's throat. "Crying over a broken toy! You must be senile in your old age!"

"Shut up!" Gama rounded so that he was glaring as fiercely as a man his age could. "I may be old, but at least I know the value of a life! Unlike you, you deformed freak!" In half a second the man had Gama by the throat and raised in the air.

"I'm not deformed. I'm advanced!" He snarled at Gama, tightening his hold making the old man gasp and grunt. "What's the point of being a fleshy human that ages and withers. Why be something that is easily broken but so hard to fix."

"Shut the hell up, you bastard!" Luffy threw his fist forward, but caught it and allowed it to snap back to him. The man had moved poor old Gama into the direct path of Luffy's blow.

"He's going to use that old man as a shield." Nami whispered horrified at the thought.

"That's just low." Ussop grumbled as he helped bandage a man's wound.

"I know the value of a life!" He gave Gama a hard shake. "I just don't care! Gah!" He released Gama out of shock. The old man hit the ground hard. When he recovered from the shock of pain, he could only stare.

A long spike like blade was pierced through the man's arm. Running from the end of the blade were threads of thick black twine leading back into an open stitch on Marcy's remaining wrist. That remaining arm was raised, shuttering and twitching like it was unstable. The doll had somehow managed to roll her broken body onto it's stomach. More of the gel rippled from her body and slide across the ground. A broken glass eye was trained onto the man, but it held no life. It was empty.

"What the hell?" The man snarled. He didn't understand. Without the heart, that thing should have been nothing more then scrape material. He slashed the twine before ripping the spike out of his arm. He leaned down curiously staring at the doll, it's broken eye shifted slightly to meet his gaze. Maybe it was a side effect of having the heart in her for so long. Residual power, possibly? A single thin blade dropped from the tip of each finger before the doll's only hand made a slashing motion at the man. He jerked backwards a few steps. Her motions were faster then he had thought they could be.

"She's still moving?" Nami whispered. "How can she still be alive?"

"She's not." Nami turned to look at Zoro, but he didn't continue. They watched as Marcy's broken body repeatedly tried to get up. A few splatters of pinkish red gel met the ground. Falling back down before pulling it's self forward a few inches and trying again. A short trail of smeared gel had been formed from the large pool of it to the doll's jerking body. The man watched not positive on what to make of this scene. He understood what was happening immediately when his eyes caught a specific sight.

The old rusted metal heart was glowing brightly and vibrating with a hum. Her body was reacting to the call of the heart like it was used to.

The man began taking steps backwards from her broken body. The heart's glow began to fade the father he got from her and her body's motions ceased. She collapsed to the ground without so much as a warning and no further motions of any kind. The man grinned.

Luffy's fist shot forward and caught the man in face with it's full force. He was sent flying, crashing and tumbling across the ground like a rag doll.

"Hey, old man." Luffy's voice startled Gama. "If I get that thing back, you can fix Marcy, right?"

"Y-yes. I should be able too." Luffy nodded. The man stood from his crumpled position and threw his blade at Luffy. Luffy simply tilted his head, the blade flew past him.

"Why would you bother fixing something so weak and useless!" He roared before rushing at Luffy, a new blade drawn.

"Because she's part of my crew!" Luffy's fist slammed into the man's face again, but this time the man didn't move back a single inch. The man's blade bit into Luffy's shoulder. Luffy's leg then slammed into the man's stomach. That one sent him skidding to the side. Luffy noticed he'd felt the distinct give of hitting flesh that time, unlike before when he felt like he was punching a wall. His next attack was aimed for that same spot.

"Hey, Gama." Sanji now stood behind Gama. "You should start fixing her up soon. It won't take Luffy long to get that heart back." Gama blinked at him before looking at the others. Ussop and Nami were helping the wounded while Zoro was leaning casually against a wall, nearly asleep.

"B-but, what about your friend? Won't he need help?"

"Nah. Our idiot captain won't lose especially not when a friend's been hurt." Sanji lit a new cigarette. "C'mon, I'll help you fix her, just tell me what you need." Sanji carefully lifted Marcy's body into his arms and followed Gama to the old workshop on the cliff.

Zoro cracked open an eye and looked around. Luffy was determined, that was plain to see. He had only a few more nicks since he gained that wound in his shoulder. Luffy was aiming powerful punches and kicks to a few specific places. Zoro guessed that Luffy had noticed that the man's body was still human in a few places. He wasn't worried, Luffy would win and get Marcy's heart back then he'd get her to join their crew, end of story. His gaze turned in the direct Sanji and Gama had walked. It hadn't taken Zoro long to understand why Sanji had suddenly stopped flirting with Marcy. Zoro himself could see the pained child that was hidden in her pastel green eyes. It seemed that that had struck a cord with Luffy and Sanji. Not like that was unexpected though. Luffy had the tendency for being attracted to odd balls, outcasts, and sufferers of tragedy. So Zoro wasn't really surprised to find out he wanted Marcy to join the crew. He also wasn't terribly surprised when Sanji took on more of a brotherly or kind of care taker attitude toward the doll. Zoro twitched slightly remembering yesterday and an off handed comment he made to Marcy. It wasn't meant to be rude, but could be ever so slightly taken as such. Sanji without the slightest warning, had kicked Zoro in the face. He wasn't positive which would prove to be potentially more dangerous. Sanji doing his usual routine towards Marcy or this new self acclaimed brother routine. With a sigh, Zoro closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. What had he done to deserve ending up on such a weird crew?

Gum Gum Gatling gun firing off and the rapid pounding of fists into flesh and occasionally metal, signaled the end of this fight. Luffy stood slightly winded and covered in small cuts, but looking none worse for wear. The man fell to the ground as blood sprayed from his mouth. The connective areas between his flesh and metal were tearing and bleeding.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Blood splattered from his mouth as he shouted. "A nobody like you has no right to get in the way of my captain's goals!"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'm going to be king of the pirates!" Luffy grinned at the fallen man. "And if your captain get's in my way, I'll kick his ass too!"

"You and you're stupid crew and that stupid doll are all going to die!"

"Nah." Luffy's hand grasped the heart and pulled it free from the man's belt. "I don't feel like dieing." Luffy stretched his leg back a few feet before slamming his foot into the man. The man vanished into the background.

Luffy gazed down at the cool metal heart in his hand. The markings on it glowed ever so slightly and it shivered with a faint tune. A large grin split his face. The tune pouring from it now decidedly happier. With a whistle, Luffy turned and began walking towards Marcy's house. He was going to have a new member on his crew and new friend.

"Hey, Luffy, don't you find that just a little bit gross?" Ussop questioned, looking at the slightly goo slicked heart that Luffy clutched in his hand.

"No?" Luffy blinked confused at him. "Why would I?"

"Cause you're holding Marcy's severed heart in your hand." Luffy blinked again.

"This is her heart?" Luffy stared at the metal heart in his hand with amazement.

"OF COURSE IT'S HER HEART! WHAT DID YOU THINK IT WAS!?" Ussop shouted.

"A music box."

"WHY THE HELL WOULD A MUSIC BOX BE KEEPING HER ALIVE!?"

"Cause it's magic."

"HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE!?"

"Just give up." Zoro sighed. "It's not like it really matters, anyway."

The walk to Marcy's house was quiet and short. Luffy's face was filled with it's usual grin. The others wondered if Marcy would remember any of this when she woke up.


	6. Chapter 6

**I drew a picture of Marcy and that got me so pumped that I had to write another chapter. I expect love for this! Lot's of love! And maybe some cookies or some Mountain Dew. Either one would be nice. . . Or some extra reviews. Reviews are very nice too.**

**Also, I am aware that Sanji takes on a very Tamaki like quality in this chapter especially. I just didn't feel his usual behavior towards women would feel right with Marcy and I decided that him behaving like an overprotective father to her wouldn't be too far of a stretch from his character.**

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Chapter Six

A pair of pastel green eyes snapped open. One eye was covered in cracks that had been filled with a slightly grey substance. The undamaged eye had a line of stitches extending from the brow to the bottom of the cheek bone. The rest of the face was undamaged, although silky black hair surrounded the face in a slightly matted halo of shadows. The two others in the room had yet to notice the now open and observing eyes.

A withered old man was sewing two pieces of cream colored satin closed over a newly mended marble rib cage. The doll watched him without blinking. She pinpointed the weakened places where her ribs had been melded back into places. Her eyes also noted the new seams running the length of her left and right sides. Then there was the new incredibly jagged seam on her right shoulder as well as on her left knee. She could also feel the thick twine that worked as her nerves writhing and twisting in her chest as they attempted to properly reconnect themselves to her humming heart. The old man worked quickly and expertly on her seam. She found this mildly disturbing.

Pastel eyes moved to the other being in the room. It was a tall blonde man in a black suit. He was bent over slightly at the waist as he worked away at a small vat of a reddish pink gel substance. From the smell and appearance of the gel, the doll could only assume it was the defense gel used to fill her body in place of blood. Annoyance flushed through her body for a moment before a few images fluttered through her mind.

"Hey, Old man," The withered man stopped his sewing and looked at the blonde guy. "You said it had to be about the consistency of syrup, right?" The old man nodded. "Then it's done." The old man nodded again before wiping his forehead.

"Once I get this last seam finished we can jus- GAH! SHE'S AWAKE!" The blonde man rounded on him, his teeth sharp in annoyance.

"WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THAT'S A BAD THING!?"

"I'm not. It was just creepy, especially with that cracked eye and all. . ."

"I thought you would have been used to it since you've been fixing her for over fifty years." The blonde sighed before smiling at the doll. "How are you feeling, Marcy?" The doll sat up and stared at him. "Hmm?" The blonde met her stare with a straight face. He was expecting her not to remember him or the previous days events. Her stare was thoughtful and, yes, moderately creepy with the cracked eye.

"You're Sanji, right?" Sanji threw a grin at her.

"So you remember?" Marcy frowned in annoyance causing Sanji to blink at her.

"Did I really get torn apart by some freak in a cape?" Sanji cringed slightly at the image of her broken body that those words brought forward. He had wanted to vomit when he first saw that terrible scene. He could only liken the feeling to seeing an innocent child dead. It sickened him.

"Yeah, but Luffy kicked his ass for you." Sanji exhaled a cloud of swirling smoke.

"Well, since you're awake now, would mine just drinking the defense gel so I don't have to poke a hole in you?" Eyes turned to the old man.

"Who are you?"

"YOU REMEMBER THESE LITTLE SHIT PIRATES THAT YOU ONLY MET THREE DAYS AGO YET YOU DON'T REMEMBER ME! GAMA! THE MAN WHO'S CARED FOR YOUR ASS FOR THE PAST FIFTY PLUS YEARS!"

"You've got a lot of energy for someone so old."

"JUST SWALLOW THE DAMN GEL!" Gama forced the vat of gel to her mouth and poured it down her throat. She twitched and flailed as several gallons of still scolding hot gel slide it's way down her throat and into her mostly empty torso.

"Take it easy, Old Timer!" Sanji shouted pulling the hot vat away from Gama, his eyes wide in surprise. He didn't think the old man could lift the thing.

"Why? It's not like she needs to breath." Gama grumbled before heading over to a box of eyes.

"That doesn't mean you can be so rough with her!" Sanji growled, biting down hard on the end of his cigarette. "Treating such a precious child so harshly over nothing. Good thing you don't have any kids, you grouchy old bastard."

"She's older then you!" A glass eye was chucked at Sanji's head. It missed him completely and was imbedded in the wooden wall by the force used to throw it. Sanji's jaw dropped. How the hell could that old man throw something that hard!? "And what the hell would you know about children!? You're probably barely old enough to know how to use what you've got there in your pants."

"Shut up already." Marcy growled, having just recovered from the pain of her now burnt mouth. Steam flowed from her mouth with every word. Yes, the gel was still very hot. "Jeez, what a sick old man." Gama looked crest fallen while Sanji snickered. "Yeah, I remember you now." Gama perked up, glowing with joy for a moment. "You were the little brat who asked me if I had 'fully functioning' lady parts. Only you didn't say lady parts."

"Why is that the part you remember?" Gama laughed nervously.

"How disgusting."

"Shut up you!"

"I'm not comfortable with you being near Marcy anymore." Sanji sat on the bed next to the doll as he fixed Gama with a very suspicious look.

"That was seventy-five years ago!" Sanji didn't relent. Gama sighed defeated while a confused twitchy smile pulled at Marcy's mouth. "I couldn't find a set of green eyes like the ones you've got, but I did find a pair of blue ones like your fathers." He set the glass eyes down on the table near her. She stared at them for a minute.

"No." Marcy stood, leaving the two watching in confusion. "I don't want any other eyes. They're either the green that Father chose or none at all."

"But one's cracked. . . That can't be comfortable for you." Gama mumbled.

"Doesn't bother me at all." She turned to him and stuck out her tongue. "Besides, it makes me look a little scarier. That'll come in handy when I become a pirate!" Marcy trotted happily out of the room, only pausing to look in a mirror out in the hall. She stared for a long moment before coming to a decision. Instead of heading into the main room where she could hear everyone else talking, she turned and made her way into one of the secondary crafting rooms. She grasped a serrated edged razor in her hand before standing in front of the mirror in the hallway again. She heard Sanji and Gama descending the stairs and entering the main room with the others.

Marcy gazed at her long black silk hair in contempt. Why was it so long? It came almost halfway down her thighs. She began dragging the razor over her hair. Severing the silk strands so that they danced around her hips instead. She cut out the few mats that had formed. The now shorter areas stuck up and curled away from the rest of her hair. On an impulse, Marcy racked her hair so that her part was more to the side causing a curtain of black silk to conceal her cracked eye. She cut a bit off, making jagged and uneven bangs. With a smile and a nod, she admired her new appearance.

"Marcy?" She turned and blinked, slightly startled by the voice.

"What's up, Nami?" Said woman smiled at her.

"We were wondering where you ran off too." Nami climbed the rest of the stairs to stand next to Marcy. Her pink eyes looked from the razor to Marcy's newly styled and cut hair. "What are you doing?"

"I felt the need to give myself a new hairstyle." Nami felt sweat run down her face. Marcy had done a poor job. The ends were very uneven and the bangs looked like they had been carelessly hacked at.

"Let me help you with that." Nami, with a little force, took the razor blade from Marcy and began straightening out the edges of the silk hair. It took her much longer then she thought it would, mainly because she noticed the mats had been cut out so Nami had to add layers throughout Marcy's hair, but when she was done it looked better. With a content sigh, Nami placed the razor on the hallway table before placing a hand on Marcy's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go eat. Sanji made some type of cake for you since. . .you . . ." Nami's words trailed off as she felt a hum dancing through her arm. She blinked. It was song wrapping its way around her nerves. She could just barely understand the meaning of the song itself. A few low playing notes were undistinguishable, but the loud ones that writhed and danced into her hand freely were obvious. Those notes brought with them fuzzy and erratic images, that Nami herself had only the faintest understanding of.

"Nami?" Marcy questioned with a raised eyebrow. "You okay?" Nami had been vacantly staring at her hand on Marcy's shoulder for several minutes and it had began to creep Marcy out.

"Hmm?" Nami blinked before smiling. "Yeah, I'm alright." She removed her hand and made her way to the stairs. "We should hurry before Luffy eats everything." Marcy smiled and trotted after her. Now Nami understood why Sanji had changed his attitude. She shook her head. What a weird bunch they were turning out to be.

Ussop's eye twitched. Marcy said she didn't need to eat, so he had honestly believed that when she did she would only eat small amounts. Why did he bother to assume anything anymore? Marcy had taken one bite of the cake Sanji had made for her before she began inhaling the entire thing and it was a big cake. Then she'd asked for something else. That was inhaled at Luffy-like speeds. Marcy apparently really really really enjoyed Sanji's cooking. Sanji himself seemed more then pleased to see the doll go sparkly eyed as she devoured everything he put in front of her.

"Marcy?" He received a muffled 'what' from the doll since her mouth was currently filled with pasta. "Since you don't have a stomach, exactly what happens to the food you eat?" She swallowed the food in her mouth. Well, at least she had better manners then Luffy.

"The defense gel breaks it down and uses it to produce more gel." Ussop nodded.

"Makes sense." Marcy nodded and everyone continued eating. Gama left for a moment before coming back with several rolled up papers.

"What are those things, Old Man?" Gama twitched, he was really getting tired of being called old man. He turned to Luffy.

"They're Marcy's schematics." At the blank face of Luffy, Gama rephrased it. "Pictures that show how Marcy's designed."

"Oh! I wanna see!" Luffy reached to grab the rolled up papers only to receive a kick from Sanji. "What was that for!?"

"You're not allowed to look at my precious Marcy's schematics!"

"Why not?"

"It would be like looking at her naked and I won't allow that!" The two continued to argue while everyone else ignored them. Gama turned to Nami.

"Marcy can fix herself, but serious things have to be done by someone else." Nami nodded. It only made sense. Marcy wouldn't be able to repair herself if her heart stopped nor would she really be able to fix her limbs if they come off. "Who should I give these to?"

"Ussop and I will take them."

"Why us?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Nami sighed motioning to the rest of their friends. Zoro was asleep, Luffy was stuffing his face, and Sanji was still lecturing Luffy. "I can sew and you could probably figure out a way to manage fixing the other stuff."

"Yeah, that makes sense, but we're not doll makers." Ussop scratched his head in thought. "I'm bound to make mistakes and shoddy repairs. I don't know. I'd feel pretty bad for it." He looked at Marcy as she grinned at Luffy. Yeah, he'd feel terrible if he couldn't properly fix her.

"That's not a problem." They looked at Gama. The old man smiled. "Marcy can tell if something isn't fixed properly. She'd be able to help you with repairs."

"Alright." Ussop held out his hand took the schematics from Gama. He looked over each of the papers intently. The design, he decided, was very well thought out and already he'd begun to think of ways it could be improved. There wasn't much he could do about improving her skeletal system or her skin, but he could add several attack or defense mechanisms in key places. And maybe he could figure out a way to add more support to the already weakened areas of her body. Ussop looked up from the papers and at Marcy, a frown pulling at his mouth. Gama had already marked areas on the schematics where new weak points had formed because of the damage she took in the last fight. Ussop hoped that Marcy didn't take too many more beat downs like that one, otherwise she would be falling apart long before he could figure out a way to mend her properly. Ussop created a mental list of everything that he would need to at least attempt to keep Marcy in working order. Ussop's brain was suddenly scrambled.

"I just said, NO ONE'S ALLOWED TO LOOK AT THESE!" Sanji glared down at Ussop who was holding the newly formed lump on his head. He scowled up at Sanji.

"How am I suppose to repair her if I don't look at them."

"She won't need to be repaired because I won't let any bastard put their hands on my precious Marcy!"

"I think I liked you better when you were a pervert." Ussop grumbled. "I don't know how to deal with you now that you're behaving like an over protective father."

"What was that, long nose?"

"Hey, Ussop, you're right!" Everyone blinked.

"I am?"

"Yeah, Sanji reminds me of Father." Marcy looked thoughtful for a moment. "Come to think of it he was really protective too." Everyone felt sweat run down the side of their faces. Zoro who had woken up after being hit by a stray bowl of flying soup which had been sent flying when Sanji kicked Luffy's face into the table, commented.

"That explains a lot."

"What do you mean?" Nami asked him. She was kind of frightened by the suddenly thoughtful look that had come over Sanji as he looked at Marcy.

"That child-like innocence or whatever you want to call it." Nami 'hummed' as a signal for Zoro to continue. "If she had an over protective father, it's doubtful he'd let anything ruin that. She may be more naïve then Luffy in some areas." Nami froze. That wouldn't be fun. Everyone was torn from their thoughts as Sanji suddenly stood tall. His eyes wide with sparkles of determination. How creepy.

"Since poor Marcy has been deprived of a proper father figure for so long, as a gentleman it is my duty to take up her fallen father's torch and raise Marcy to be proper young lady!" Marcy blinked and Gama began shouting his objections. "Whatever god exists out there must have placed me before this poor creature for such a purpose! It'll be my greatest test as a man and I shall meet it head on!" Sanji grasped both of Marcy's hands. Her eyebrows had begun twitching in a nervous almost frightened way. "Marcy, I promise to be the best father figure you'll ever have! I swear to never let a single man lay a hand on you! You shall forever be my pure innocent little doll!"

"I liked him better as a pervert." Nami mumbled.

"So you're my father now?" Sanji nodded with vigor, his dazzling smile still in place. "Okay. . . . I guess that's cool. . ." Sanji's long arms curled around her shoulders and he began nuzzling her hair. Marcy froze and a frown crossed her face. He began gushing about all the things they were going to do together.

"Huh? I thought Raymond was Marcy's father?" Luffy asked as he frowned.

"You mean Ryuuden?" Luffy nodded. Ussop's eye twitched. "Where the hell did you get Raymond from?" Ussop sighed. "Sanji isn't actually Marcy's dad. He's just being weird again."

"Oh!" Luffy grinned. "Then does that make Nami her mom?"

"NO!" Nami roared before she rounded on Sanji. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING EITHER!"

"Yes, Nami dear!" Sanji smiled with hearts in his eyes. "Though you would make a great mother!" Nami growled in warning.

"Okay! So Sanji's the dad, Nami's the mom, I'm her brother, and Zoro's the uncle!" Luffy announced. Again, sweat ran down everyone's faces.

"Oookay. What about me?" Ussop questioned. He figured it would just be easiest to play along.

"Hmmmm." Luffy looked very thoughtful and that scared Ussop. "You're the dog."

"WHAT!? WHY THE HELL AM I THE DOG!"

"Someone has to be the dog and you're the only one left."

"Why don't you make Zoro the dog! He already acts like one!"

"And exactly how do I act like a dog?" A glare accompanied this question.

"W-well," Ussop swallowed hard. "Nevermind. I'll be the damn dog." Loud boisterous laughter through the room. Everyone turned to the source to find Marcy laying on her back holding her stomach. Tears rolled down her satin cheeks from glass eyes. Her feet were kicking in the air. Everyone started to grin before small laughs forced themselves from their mouths.

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**Nico1302: Yeah, Marcy does need her eyes to see, but she's a bit of ditz and since they do come out on occasion she's gotten used to it. She just doesn't really notice it right away. Also, is that German at the end of your reviews?**


	7. Chapter 7

**THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED!**

**I reread this chapter again while I was writing chapter eight and I decided that it wasn't good enough. Most of the changes are at the part where she's in the shop. Sorry if it got even more confusing, I tried to make it better.**

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**So here's the deal, I hope to update at least once a week, probably on the weekends. I work full time and sometimes I have to work on the weekends so I'll try my hardest. Please enjoy this next chapter. **

**Also, because I feel like it's important that you know this, I am eating dried cranberries as I write this!**

**P.S. On the subject of romance: Please understand, that if there is any romance, it will be very innocent and from more of a child-like view. Marcy is a doll who is still developing her emotions. Unless I'm struck with an idea that I believe will tie in perfectly, it'll be a very innocent type of romance.**

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Chapter Seven

Marcy had been on the Merry for a total of three days and she was already beginning to rethink this decision to go with them. Marcy could not find her place in this crew. As far as she could tell, there was no place in the crew for her. She had no idea in the slightest on how to sail a ship or really any knowledge of ships. Nami had forbidden Marcy from doing any type of running or jumping while onboard the Merry because Marcy's weight coupled with the speed and force of those actions would shake the ship or cause it to rock. No one appreciated it. They all had thought the sea was getting rough. Marcy would have blushed if she could. The only thing that Marcy found was even moderately beneficial to the entire crew was the fact that she didn't sleep so without hesitation she said she would take night watch duty every night unless she was too damaged to do so. There had been some argument, but after she stated that it was really the only way she could be of use while on the ship everyone slowly accepted that they would be sleeping through every night unless certain circumstances said otherwise.

That is what lead to Marcy for the second night in a row now sitting in the crow's nest surrounded by darkness. There was not a single light burning on the deck of the ship nor was there any sound. Marcy didn't need light to see, she could adjust her pupils to allow her to see in all variations of light and darkness. Though the vision in her left eye was ever so slightly distorted by the filled cracks, she could see a complete 360 degrees around her body and out onto the ocean. One of the few things she had managed to master in her life time. Marcy had spent many days pondering the extents of her hearts capabilities. There were dozens more then just bringing her to life. She could only use three other aspects to their fullest, and she knew of ten other abilities. Sadly though, in the words of Ussop, all of her abilities were in fact creepy. Marcy sniffled at the thought, she didn't like being creepy. And she didn't like that Ussop included her when he refered to the monsters on this ship. Thinking about the others lead Marcy to decide that if she wanted to be up to par with the rest of the crew, she would need to master her abilities at a faster pace and not her slow steady as she goes one. After all, looking back to when she met the crew, she was defeated so grotesquely while Luffy kicked that freak's ass in under an hour.

Marcy opened her eyes, her vision refocused to the area in front of her. Her 360 degrees view gone. Her eyes scanned the area in a bored fashion before landing on the sail. They narrowed in disdain at what they locked on to. There were several places where the sail had been poorly mended. To Marcy it looked like a five year old had tried to fix the areas, but she had grown up gazing at the stitches made by masters without compare. With a sigh, Marcy looped a rope around her waist and used it to position herself in front of the blindingly obvious mends. A single small blade dropped from her pointer finger and she slashed the stitches open with such precision that not a single ounce more of damage was caused to the sail. The blade slide back into her finger while the other hand reached behind her ear and freed a needle from it's hidden place beneath satin flesh. From underneath the stitches on her wrist she pulled free the end of a thin sturdy string and looped it through the needle. Marcy then began to redo the stitches with the precision and care of a master, though in her eyes it was purely mediocre. With that done, she moved to the next and repeated the process. This continued until the sail looked pristine again. Marcy nodded to herself before returning to her place in the crow's nest to wait out the rest of the night, not before she took a moment (more like an hour) to swing back and forth on her rope swing.

Sanji was up several moments after the sun rose. He stopped on his way to the kitchen to bid Marcy a good morning. His eyes stopped for a moment on the now pristine sail, it hadn't been that way yesterday. He was positive there were several places where his beautiful Nami had sewn it shut. A smile lit his face again, at least his cute little doll hadn't been bored during the night.

Marcy peeked over the side of the crow's nest and waved down at him with a bright smile. Sanji motioned for her to come down and join him. With out thinking, she jumped. Upon her landing, the front of the ship tipped deeper into the water while the back was lifted almost completely out of the water. Shouts and shrieks were proceeded by thumps and thuds. Marcy cringed as the boat stopped it's rocking. The hatch to the guys room was thrown open and out rushed three bleary eyed and bruised men. Two ready for a fight and one slightly cowering behind them. Marcy gave them a sheepish grin, and they relaxed.

"Marcy you really need to be more careful." Ussop crossed his arms, looking less then pleased. "With your weight you could easily flip Merry or crash through the deck."

"Sorry. Sorry." She smiled at him. "I got excited."

"It's alright, but you act worse then Luffy sometimes." Marcy blinked at Ussop. "I mean you're about sixty years old and yet you act like a child. I get that you don't age and all, but shouldn't you at least have gotten a bit more mature?'

"I'm not sixty." Marcy said with a pout, annoyed by his mistake. "I'm one hundred and one years old now."

"WHAT!?"

"YOU'RE AN OLD HAG!"

"DON'T INSULT MY DAUGHTER, YOU SHITTY CAPTIAN!"

"She's old enough to be your great grandmother, Love Cook."

"SO!?"

"So stop calling her your daughter. It's weird."

"You're just jealous, Marimo!"

"Right. I'm jealous that god didn't place a century year old doll before me for me to raise as my daughter."

"Stop saying that!" Sanji wailed. "She can't be that old! My darling daughter is just confused after those years of living the same day!"

"I figured Marcy was at least in her nineties." Nami stated as she made her way to the group. She delivered a swift blow to the back of Marcy's head. Marcy just blinked. She didn't really feel the blow itself, but she understood it as her punishment for disobeying Nami. At the questioning looks, Nami explained. "Gama said she was older then him."

The group accepted this with varying reactions. Luffy was amazed, again. Sanji was in denial, claiming that the fifty plus years of her reliving the same day only counted a day which still left Marcy at least ten years older then him. Zoro didn't care. Nami didn't care. Ussop noted that her age would explain the way some of her joints and connective fabric was worn. With that done and over everyone went to kitchen for coffee and breakfast.

"You're very good at sewing, Marcy." Sanji said after placing the food on the table and serving the women.

"Huh?" Marcy questioned around a mouth full of cranberry orange muffin.

"You redid the repairs on the sail." Sanji munched on a piece of French toast. "I can barely tell the sail was ever damaged."

"Oh, yeah." Marcy shoved another muffin into her mouth. "Father and Gama taught me how to stitch. I'm not even remotely as good as them, but I'm okay. Father used to let me make the clothes for the dolls he made." Marcy devoured another muffin. All other conversations stopped and everyone turned slightly to listen.

"So he was teaching you to be a doll maker too?"

"Nope." She made a popping sound with the p. "He wanted me to be good enough to fix minor damage to my body without leaving nasty looking lines of stitches. He said I had a better eye for clothes then the doll's themselves. I'm more of a seamstress, I guess."

"Really?" Nami asked a thoughtful look crossing her face.

"Yeah?" Marcy was almost scared as was everyone else. They all had an inkling of a feeling that Nami's next words would involve money somehow. After a moment of silence, Nami left only to return a moment later with a pair of Ussop's brown overalls.

"Hey! Those are mine!"

"Be quiet!" Nami snapped at Ussop. "I needed something terrible to test her with."

"Terrible?" Ussop grumbled looking down at the one was wearing now.

"I want to see how good of a seamstress you are!" Nami threw the overalls at Marcy, who caught them with a questioning look. "Turn those into something I'd be willing to wear into public!" Marcy's face went blank for a moment as she stared at the brown clothes clutched in her hands. In a moment, just like she had at night with the sail, a blade slipped from her pointer finger and she began to slash away at the overalls. Everyone watched with interest as she worked. Her hand was fast and precise, reducing the clothes to nothing more then a pile of fabric. The blade slide back into her finger and the needle was pulled from underneath satin flesh along with a line of thread. Faster then Marcy had cut it, she began to stitch the fabric back together again.

The coveralls were no more. Instead it became a short ruffle skirt with an uneven hem. One of the straps of the coveralls had become a belt at the top of the somewhat low riding skirt. The next piece was a midriff single strap top. The other buckle strap of the coveralls had become the strap to the top, crossing from the left side of the top to sit slightly off the right shoulder of the wearer. A small short sleeved crop jacket was made as well.

Nami grinned, pleased with the outcome.

"Alright! That settles it! Everyone will be getting fifty percent less money for buying clothes!" Nami clapped happily, only to hear a chorus 'what's. "She's a seamstress and a good one! That means she can fix your clothes after you get them damaged in a fight! You won't need to throw away clothes as often which means you won't need as much money to buy them! And Marcy can always make you guys new ones if you really need her too!" Nami was positively beaming as she sat back down to eat her breakfast. "Plus she can fix the sails properly too!" Marcy blinked, unsure. She wasn't positive, but it didn't sound normal for a pirate crew to have a seamstress. She looked at Luffy, questioning, who looked at her then beamed a frighteningly happy grin.

"Alright! It's decided! You're our crew's seamstress!" Marcy sweat dropped, confused. A nervous laugh bubbling in her throat.

"Do pirate crew's really have seamstresses?" She questioned.

"Sounds odd, but I don't think it's unheard of." Marcy looked at Zoro. He yawned then continued. "Pirates get in a lot of scraps so we go through clothes pretty fast. Having someone around who can fix them wouldn't be such a bad thing. Besides it'll help keep us out of debt with Nami since we won't need to ask that witch for money for new clothes." Nami growled at him while Sanji shouted. Marcy wandered off after that. Okay, so they gave her an official place on the crew, even if it seemed like a rather unlikely position and incredibly un-piratey. In her honest opinion, it made her feel even less threatening now. What was the point of being a non-threatening pirate! Pirates were scary! There is nothing scary about a doll that's a seamstress. Darn it! People would make all kinds of jokes with that. Marcy was positive she would hear someone offer to play with her at some point. When that happened, she'd stab them with a sewing needle. A really freakishly big sewing need. Her pastel green eye roamed over the water and she wondered what would happen if she fell in. She was far too heavy to float, so she would sink without a doubt straight to the bottom, but would she be able to move around and swim like the fishies or would she be like a stone and just sit there. Marcy decided she was going to try it one day. She was pulled from her thoughts by a conversation.

"You see and island?" Nami questioned. "This means that we are very close to the Grandline now. This island is the location of Logue town. 'The city of the beginning and the end.' The legendary. Gold Roger was born and executed in this town. The place where the greatest pirate was executed." With that everyone was excited in their own way. Marcy was bouncing on the balls of her feet. She had never been to another island before and she couldn't wait to explore. What made it even better was her first island was a famous one. "YOU'RE SHAKING THE SHIP! STOP IT!" Marcy flinched back at the aggravated look on Nami's face. Where humans supposed to make faces like that?

The second Marcy's feet touched land, she was off. She heard Nami and Ussop's shouts about not running off and blah blah blah, but she was bound to run into one of them at some point while she was exploring and if not she would just return to the ship when she was done. She also heard Sanji shout something about staying with Papa so he could protect her, but she decided to ignore that one entirely. She sprinted around in a giddy haze, stopping from time to time in order to look at different things. The first store she actually went into with the intent to buy things was a fabric store. If she was going to be the crew's seamstress she might as well set up shop on the ship now which means she'd be needing a lot of supplies. That and Marcy liked to sew her own clothes. Marcy smiled a small secretive smile as she patted the pocket of her jacket that held her money pouch. Before she had left with everyone, she had cleared the old workshop out. Everything that meant too much to her to be sold was left to the town who pledged to take good care of it. She took all of the money her father had left behind (several hundred thousand) before she gathered the dolls and other things of value to be sold. In the end she had a total of 21 million berries. Not counting the five pouches of gems she brought with her to use to power her heart. Nami had cried when she was told what the gems were for and if she knew about the money that Marcy had brought with her, Nami would have more then likely demanded Marcy pay in compensation for Nami allowing so many precious gems to be destroyed.

After Marcy was positive she had bought plenty of supplies (all of the highest quality, no way would she reduce herself to cheaper materials just because she was a pirate and damn it! She was not about to let herself be seen on a crew that looked like poppers. Yes, Marcy had a shallow side that came into play when clothes were involved.), she dumped them on the ship before rushing back into the town. No point in her lugging around those supplies all day. Marcy was debating whether she should buy supplies for fixing her body or not. It was possible that Ussop was already doing that since he had claimed the job of fixing her, but she couldn't count on that since it was her body after all. A part of her said that it was expected of him to have those things handy, but the majority claimed that it would be rude and selfish of her to demand that of him, especially with the amount of money Nami gives them and Marcy's refusal to have low quality materials in or on her body.

A glance into the window of a shop had a boiling hatred disintegrating all other thoughts from her mind. Never before had something so simple and lifeless evoked such a reaction from the doll. Her eyes never left the source of her hatred, even as she moved into the store, her eyes burned into the shelves and objects that hide it from her sight. She knew it was there, it wasn't her imagination. Once Marcy was close enough to it, she grasped it in her hands with a gentleness that gave no inkling to burning desire to set free the blades hidden in each finger and rip into it with the furry of hellcat.

"You've got a good eye. That's a-" Marcy cut the old woman whom she assumed was the owner of the store off with such a cold voice that she herself was surprised.

"a Ryuuden original. The last and the greatest of his dolls. Publicly known as 'The Parting Gift'. It was started with the intent to be a gift to his daughter on her sixth birthday, but she died before it was finished along with his wife. It then became a parting gift." Her fingers caress the face of the doll in admiration. A faint tingle echoed from the doll's face and into Marcy's own fingers. It was stronger then the last time Marcy had felt it. A dancing hum, that was so sad and lonely, pained that it caused a sharp near crippling pain to rip through Marcy. Marcy's own humming heart sputtered for a moment.

"You know quiet a bit." The woman smiled a small almost dark smile, though Marcy didn't notice. "A fan of his work, maybe?" Marcy grunted in response. "It's eerie, how similar you and the doll are."

In honesty, Marcy loved all of her Father's dolls, except this one. She hated this one. The doll was beautiful with straight hair of the deepest black silk, the finest satin skin, and pastel green eyes. Marcy reached onto it's back and pulled the small switch. A gentle humming music filled the air as the doll's internal mechanics came to life. It was the same faint hum that Marcy felt being turned only amplified and turned to music. It's chest split down the middle as hinges pulled it open exposing a mechanical heart. Black lines shifted in patterns on the doll's insides while the small metal heart opened to reveal itself as a tiny music box. Inside the music box heart a small phrase was carved in perfect black script.

_I will never say goodbye to my family. I love you Mary and Lacy._

Marcy sneered at the doll for a moment. She didn't know why her father had refused to burry this doll with his human daughter. Why he kept it around him at all times. This single object represented so much pain and torment for him, so why was this kept closer to him then Marcy was? Why had he taken this stupid doll with him on his voyage instead of Marcy?

She pulled the switch again tired of seeing this stupid thing pretending to be alive. This was the model used to make Marcy herself and she hated it. She hated it because all it represented was the pain and sorrow that had driven her father to make her. It was shit. Pure and utter shit. The people who deemed this to be her precious Father's greatest work deserved to die.

As Marcy went to place the doll back in it's place, still debating on destroying the thing, a thick black tendril of string caught her finger. She glared violently at it, giving a hard tug to free her finger. The old shop woman flinched violently and made a pained sound, as a withered hand clasped over the center of her chest.

"Such brutal treatment towards a doll." The old woman pulled it from Marcy's grasp and held it like a precious treasure. "Though to you it isn't just a doll, is it?" Marcy's violent glare moved to the woman herself. "Yes, you're cut from the exact same materials this beauty was. That makes this doll your older sister, yes?" Marcy took a step back. Her fingers moving to a position that would make freeing the spiked blades in her arms easier.

"What makes you say that?" The woman gave the same dark smile.

"Because you're a doll, just like this one, made by the same man, with the same materials though you are obviously better. You were made with Ryuuden pouring his hopes and dreams and love into you. That's always better then pain and anger and misery."

"How do you know that!?" It was more then a question. It was a demand, a plea, a threat.

"I met your father, Ryuuden once, a long time ago." Marcy lowered her stance, still rather cautious, but not about to attack the woman. "That and you have the mark Ryuuden put on all of his doll's."

"No I don't." This woman was deranged. That's what Marcy decided. There was no way an old hag could have known she was a doll especially not Ryuuden's. And there was no way in hell she could have seen Ryuuden's symbol. Laughter bubbled from the woman.

"Such a silly doll. You're parading yourself around as a human, trying to be something you can never be. Isn't it enough that you're alive?"

"I'm not alive though. I'm just a doll that can walk and talk." Marcy looked down at her satin hands. She had fabric not flesh. Stone instead of bone.

"Not a live, hmm?" The woman gave her a dark look. "All things that continuously have strong emotions poured into them or towards them are in a sense alive. Those emotions take root and birth a new life. It is faint and incapable of doing much, but it's there and in certain instances may gain enough strength to act on it's own."

"What are you talking about?" Marcy deadpanned. She may be a walking talking doll, but that did not mean she thought inanimate objects could be alive. A rather hypocritical view point.

"It's commonly seen from ships that are very well taken care of. It can happen to any object that is precious to someone."

"So, you're trying to tell me that I was alive before I got the heart?" The woman nodded. "If that's all true then that thing you're holding is alive too?"

"That thing. . . . No, I'm afraid that's a bit of different story, but without the heart you are still alive. You can hear and sense what's going on. You're aware of everything, just not capable of doing anything. You can feel. See? Alive."

"You're stupid." Marcy said with finality. "That's not living, being alive. That's just being aware."

"What's the difference?"

"A lot and if you can't see that then you've gone senile in your old age." The woman's face went blank.

"And you're far to greedy and ignorant for your own good, Dolly." Marcy took a step back, startled.

"The hell would you know!?" She demanded.

"Because I met an arrogant fool, who's just as greedy and ignorant as you. The only difference is," The woman placed a finger pointing directly at Marcy's heart. "you're heart is beautiful."

"What the hell a-"

"Your friends are leaving now. There's some nasty trouble brewing. You better hurry, Dolly." With a lot of hesitation, Marcy rushed out the door and towards the docks. The old woman looked at the doll and grinned something nasty, before making her way into furthest part of the storage of her store. "She finally shows up. Ah. I'm not sure how I feel about her. My little sister. After so many decades of not seeing her, I find myself with a warm feeling. She's still so very jealous and hurt by me! And she could feel it! She was the only one who could ever feel it! I would have thought that after all these years she wouldn't be able to feel the life humming through my body, but she could! My precious sister. Do I want to help her or should I shatter her like she wants to do to me? " The woman opens a large crate with one hand, the doll held securely in the other. "What do you think, girly?"

Inside the crate was a young girl, barely thirteen. Her face was streaked with tears and she was shivering. The girl had bright acidic green colored hair, her eyes were a purple that was reminiscent of poison, and her skin had a sickly yellow tinge to it. This was not the appearance the child had been born with. The old woman smirked as she remembered force feeding the young girl a devil fruit several days ago and watching her features shift.

"No comment? Well, it's not like your opinion matters anyway." With one hand the old woman lifted the girl from the crate and dropped her to the floor. "Steal steal Body snatcher." Twisting black threads burst from the doll and coiled around the now screaming child. She writhed and wriggled, trying to get away from the threads that had now begun to burrow into her flesh. This went on for several moments before all the threads pulled themselves fully into the girls body. Only one thread was left connecting from the girls chest to the doll's back.

After moments of silence, the girl stood. A grin on her face that was pure poison. She carefully pulled the doll from the old woman's grasp, as a string disconnected from the woman's chest with a slick snapping sound and retracted into the doll's body. It took the woman a moment before she began screaming and shaking. The girl only grinned as she raised a single hand. A large cloud purple gas erupted from the pores in her flesh and filled the room. The old woman choked and sobbed, falling to her knees.

"Why!?" She screamed. "Twenty years you've kept me! Why!? You monster! You made me do horrible things and now you're going to put that poor child through the same agony!" The girl grinned.

"I needed your body." She said as if it were obvious. "Besides you were the cutest and the strongest that was available. Trust me, I would have dropped you sooner had I found a better body. Anyway, I didn't make you do anything. I did it. I just used your body. Nothing personal." The girl turned and began to walk out of the store as the woman's skin turned a sickly color and blood filled her lungs. The girl didn't even glance back, she just kept walking. "I've got the power of two devils fruits now, why didn't I think of this before? Old age must be getting to me!" She cackled causing the people who heard her to stare in confusion, wondering how the little girl with acid green hair and sickly yellow skin clutching a beautiful doll could be any form of old. "I wonder, should I chase after my darling baby sister, or should I simply go my own way and see if fate brings these two long lost sisters together again?" The girl snapped around and began a happy almost skipping pace in the direction of the docks. "I can at least head in the same direction as her. Who knows, maybe she'll bring that monster out of hiding for me. His paranoia won't be enough to keep him from making moves now that his prize is out and about. "

Marcy stared at Logue town through the storm. Something dark and foreboding had wormed its way into her stomach. She turned to the talking crew, as rain soaked it's way through her satin flesh. It would take her hours to dry.

"Shall we begin the ceremony for entering the ocean." Sanji placed a barrel on the deck and then placed his foot on it. "I want to find the all blue." Luffy followed his example.

"To be king of the pirates!" Zoro was next.

"To be the greatest swordsman." Nami followed.

"To draw a world map!" Ussop was shivering and stuttering, but he joined to.

"To become a brave warrior of the sea!" They all looked at Marcy who stood there thinking for a moment. What truly was her dream? She placed her foot on the barrel.

"To live a life with no regrets!" That's what Marcy decided on. She wouldn't regret getting the stone and being human and she wouldn't regret making her father proud and she wouldn't regret helping her friends achieve their dreams. They all raised their feet and slammed them down, crushing the barrel and spilling it's contents across the deck.

Marcy's foot went through the deck of the ship as well.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?" Ussop shrieked.

"I DIDN'T MEAN TOO!" Marcy began tugging on her foot. "GAH! I'M STUCK!"

"I'll help!" Luffy grasped her shin and with a mighty tug, her foot was free, though the planks suffered more damage in the process.

"WE HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN TO THE GRANDLINE YET AND YOU TWO IDIOTS ARE ALREADY PUTTING HOLES IN THE SHIP!" Nami did the scary angry face again before punching Marcy and Luffy.

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**Brunetta6****: HOLY SHIT! YOU WROTE THAT! I haven't gotten to read all of it yet, but HOLY SHIT! You wrote that and you like my story. My insides are dancing with joy. 0.0 And haha. I have the time skip part pretty much planned out already. I'm super excited for it.**

**Nico1302****: The gel stuff will get explained later on. There will be a repair session at some point and I'm excited to write it. This chapter answer any of your questions about her eye? She can use any part of her body like normal so long as it's still connected to her, even if by a single thread or touching another part of her body. When the moment isn't serious she doesn't entirely notice her eye is gone. It's like when you lose a lens in your glasses. You notice that something is off, but you don't realize what it is right off the bat. Make sense? I'm probably going to mostly follow the manga with a few of the fillers from the anime thrown in and a filler or two of my own.**

**I only noticed that it was German because my mother's from Germany and some of it sounded familiar. That's cool that you can use it so well.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Seven got edited! Read that one again if you haven't already!**

* * *

Chapter Eight

For the time being, Marcy decided to ignore what had happened in Logue town. It was merely just a freak coincidence that the single thing she hated most in this world was in that shop. If she could blush, she would have. Thinking back on the rage and jealousy she felt towards something so simple as a doll (even though she was one herself, so maybe it was okay because it was pretty much the same as a human girl being jealous of another human girl, right?). Marcy knew she had terrible control of her own emotions, especially the negative ones. It could be taken as her having a short temper, but in honesty she had no temper at all really. Certain things for no reason would set her off into a near lethal rage and she was calm again just as quickly. Marcy flopped down at a seat around the table. The ship shuddered ever so slightly. She grinned nervously and laughed when Nami glared and growled at her.

"It seems that the entrance the Grand Line is a mountain." To Marcy it sounded utterly normal. Why wouldn't it? She was a living doll that was a pirate with a rubber man for a captain. See? Normal. After various facial expressions and Ussop's frightened shout and his creepy exceptionally painful looking tilting of his head that reminded Marcy of something she saw in a book about possessed people, Nami continued. "Yes, at first, I thought that it's impossible, but look at this. The place where the guiding light is pointing is Loose Mountain on the Red Line." Nami showed them all the map. Everyone in the room understood what was on it. Everyone, but Marcy that is. Marcy saw only a picture with some markings and a few other things that made no sense to her while others saw a paper with valuable information on it. She stared intently, eyes narrowed while she made a small humming noise in the back of her throat. Maybe if she stared hard enough at the map, she would start to understand it.

"Use a ship to cross a mountain? Sounds interesting!" Marcy looked away from the map, which she had been staring a hole in, and to Luffy. He looked at her and grinned. She scrunched her nose up and stuck out her tongue.

"Doesn't sound too bad." That sentence was perfect for jinxing them.

"I want to ask you something." Marcy took to staring at the map again, while Zoro began speaking. She pondered how someone could manage to draw something like this accurately. She'd have to stalk Nami when she did her measuring thing of the island. "What is the reason of going to the Grand Line by using an entrance? If you head south, you can go to the Grand Line too, right?" Marcy flinched when Luffy shouted.

'That's a bad idea, Zoro!" Marcy had enough of the current conversation. It involved maps and directions and seas and sailing. All of the things Marcy had no clue about. She stood and headed for the door. The weather had cleared and the sun was out now. Marcy was grateful for that. She was still soaked through and burning rays of sunshine would speed up her drying time. If Marcy's satin skin stayed wet for too long it would begin to mildew and there was no chance in hell that she would allow her lovely skin to suffer such a thing. And so, the second Marcy reached an open slightly less wet portion of the deck, she stripped down to her underwear (a bright orange bra with matching boy cut panties) and careful laid on her back in the rays of sun. Marcy proceeded to twist her body so that her left knee touched the deck on her right side while her right elbow touched the deck on her left side. She did this repeatedly switching sides each time and making a small sound effects. With each twist a small amount of water gushed though her satin skin. Soon everyone was out on the deck admiring the weather. No one noticed Marcy yet though.

"We're in deep trouble now! This must be the Calm Belt!" Nami said looking moderately panicked.

"Calm Belt?"

"What is it?"

"Ah, Look! There's still a storm over there, but this side is so calm and doesn't have any wind." Ussop's gaze was torn away from the distance storm by motion in the corner of his eye. His face fell when he saw Marcy behaving like a fish out of water. "Marcy, what are you doing?" She paused briefly to shoot him a carefree smile.

"I'm ringing out my torso so that I can dry faster so I won't mildew. That'd be nasty."

"Ah. . . Okay. Did you have to take off your clothes too?" Marcy nodded. Sanji choose that moment to look over at her. His jaw dropped.

"No! My precious daughter!" Sanji attempted to cover her with his jacket, but she held him at bay with a cold satin foot. "Shield your innocent body from these beasts!"

"I like being nakey!" With that shout Marcy leapt to her feet, affectively rocking the boat, and running defiantly from Sanji. Each thundering step making poor Merry shudder and quake. "I refuse to re-clothe myself, no matter what Papa Sanji says!"

"Just shut up and prepare to row! We will go back to the storm!" Nami shouted before rounding on the still running Marcy. "And damn it, Marcy! You can wear however little you want, just STOP RUNNING!" Marcy stopped running.

"Why do we have to hurry? You told us to row the ship, but this not a row boat." Luffy said confused. Marcy peeked over the railing. Her eyes went wide with wonder. Her only coherent thought was _Big Fishies._

"Why do we have to go back to the storm?" Marcy barely heard Ussop.

"Just shut and do it!"

"The weather's nice here. Why do we have to go back there?" Zoro glanced briefly at Marcy who had her upper body hanging over the railing. Her bright orange panty clad bottom was up in the air while her feet kicked wildly and her small satin hands made weird grasping motions at the water below. Zoro promptly ignored the doll.

"I am going to explain it to you!" Angry Nami is a scary Nami. "Now the ship is heading south like you wanted!" Barely audible thanks to Nami's raised voice was the happy chanting of 'giant fishy giant fishy giant fishy' coming from the doll hanging over the railing. She grinned and giggled happily. Marcy wasn't aware that fish could get _that_ big.

"Oh! So we're in the Grand Line now?" Zoro looked around slightly surprised, avidly avoiding looking in the direction of the doll, who was now wiggling her hips around in the air. She wouldn't learn anything if he went over there and kept her from falling overboard. Might as well let her do it now, so she'll be more careful later.

"If it's that easy to enter, then there would be more people coming here!" Marcy blinked, having been startled out of her observation of the giant fish by Nami's shout. She looked up and into the raging storm. Her pastel eyes focused on a single point in the distance. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was there. Marcy didn't even know what _it_ was, but it was there and that's all that mattered to her. It was there and it was waiting. She could only assume it was waiting for them. Marcy moved to stand up and tell everyone, but the ship began to shake. Marcy lost her balance and began to fall fully over the railing. A large splash followed her descent.

"AAAAAH! AN EARTHQUAKE!?"

"DON'T BE STUPID! WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN!"

"Oh. Then is Marcy running around again?"

"No, she just fell over board." Everyone rounded on Zoro.

"YOU SAW HER FALL AND DIDN'T DO ANYTHING?!" Nami shrieked.

"YOU BASTARD!" Sanji rushed to the railing that Marcy went over, preparing to dive in for her. "ONCE I GET MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER OUT, I'M GUNNA KICK YOUR ASS, SHITTY SWORDSMAN!" And then the ship was suddenly lifted miles into the air. Everyone froze. Sanji had one foot on the railing, eyes wide and blinking. Everyone's response was unintelligible. A collective 'oh shit' passed through their minds.

"This sea is a giant sea king's nest." Nami sobbed into the mast. More unintelligible noises were made.

"Hey, guys, where's Marcy?" Luffy asked looking around.

"Zoro already said she fell into the ocean." Nami sobbed more. "The sea kings probably swallowed her."

"Never mind! I found her!" Luffy pointed to a place a good distance from them. There was a small dot clinging to the sea king's fin. Loud noises of panic where echoing from the dot.

"When this monster dives, let's begin rowing as fast as we can. Get it?" Sanji and Luffy shouted a response in affirmative. "Luffy, quick, grab Marcy!"

"Right!" Luffy cocked his right arm back. "Gum Gum Grab!" His hand shot out towards the shrieking dot and grabbed hold of the first thing he could. His fist curled tightly in soaking wet silk hair before snapping back. Marcy shrieked like a banshee and flailed her arms. The sea king sneezed at that same moment.

While everyone else was tossed around on the ship, Marcy was whipped around in the air behind the now flying ship. Tears flowed freely down her face, she had resigned herself to this fate. The only good thing that was good coming from this was all the water that had soaked into her body was being forced out because of the way her body was being snapped around. Soon she was slammed into Sanji, who went down with a wheeze, so that Luffy could save the unconscious Ussop.

When the ship was safe back in the storm and everyone was strewn around the deck, Marcy dragged herself to the railing and wheezed. Her eyes focused on what she assumed to be a ship, though she couldn't be positive. It was blurred and distorted by the rain.

On that blurred ship in the distance stood a man with the word 'METAL' tattooed into the flesh side of his face. He looked battered and beaten. His metal was bent and his flesh was bruised.

"She's on that ship." He snarled to a crew of what appeared to be metal statues. They moved in unison, preparing the ship to sail for the other much smaller vessel. He was going to make those brats pay for what they did. Not only did that snot nosed Straw Hat beat the shit out of him, but he made him fail his mission. He was a disgrace. A pathetic excuse of a servant to his master, beaten so easily by some useless newbie pirate with pathetic dreams. This time, once he got that heart, he would burn them all. Everything. He'd burn it all. They could have fun stitching that filthy doll's ashes back together. "Follow them into the Grand Line!" The ship began to tear through the water at an unnatural pace. The metal crew rowing faster then the monsters on the Straw Hat crew could ever manage. The Going Merry had begun it's trek up Loose Mountain, but this new ship was only a few yards from the entrance as well.

"Guys! There's a ship! And it doesn't look friendly!" Marcy shouted over the roaring of the water. True to her word, when everyone turned they saw a ship twice the size of Merry with the same freak from Marcy's home.

"He's alive!?" Ussop shrieked.

"H-he's going to try to ram us!" Nami cried noticing his ship's speed. "If he even bumps us we could crash into the wall!"

"He must be back for Marcy's heart." Zoro tied his bandana firmly around his head. "Guess he didn't learn his lesson last time."

"No man is worthy of my precious daughter's heart and certainly not that freak." Sanji took a place near Zoro facing the ship.

"No way in hell am I getting my ass kicked again!" Marcy shouted slamming a foot firmly onto the railing. The ship tipped backwards for a moment and Nami snarled another warning. Marcy's left hand clasped her right bicep while her right hand was raised in a fist. Zoro shot her a smirk.

"I think that was more then getting your ass kicked."

"I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Nami looped her arms underneath Marcy's pits and across her chest to hold her back from Zoro. Marcy wriggled and flailed.

"DESTROY ZORO LATER! WE HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS!"

"Calm down, Nami." Luffy grinned with a hand on his hat. "I kicked this guys ass before, so it won't be a problem now!"

"We weren't on a ship- KYAAAA!" The Merry reached the top of Loose Mountain and on it's decent back to the water, everyone went tumbling. The other ship's shadow covered the entire Merry. The Straw Hat crew looked up with wide eyes. At the rapidly descending mass of the ship.

"We're going to die." Nami and Ussop cried as they hugged each other.

"If we all attacked it at once, we'd probably be able to break it into enough pieces to keep it from damaging the Merry."

"And we'd end up landing in the water below, Marimo."

"So, What? You can swim, right Love cook?"

"That's not the point! It's-" A flash of acid green caught everyone's attention. A teenage girl appeared briefly, hovering just under the ship on a cloud of rippling purple smoke.

"POISON SHOT!" The teenager called out, her body reeled back and her mouth opened wide. A large steaming funnel of putrid green slime like liquid burst forth from the girl's mouth and splattered across the ship above them. The liquid upon contact with the ship began to sizzle and steam. The ship began dissolve. It was being devoured by the slime.

"Did she just. . . . .vomit on them?" Nami asked amazed and sickened all at once.

"She did." Zoro cringed. Even he found that gross.

"It. . It looks like the ship's dissolving. . .acid or something like it, maybe?" Ussop mumbled unsure.

"Whatever it was," Sanji was not about to accuse a woman of (spewing that disgusting stuff out of her mouth even though he saw because that's just really nasty and she probably needs to brush her teeth and drink a gallon of mouth wash) something so un-lady like. "It may have just saved us a lot of trouble."

"That was. . . SO COOL!" Luffy shouted pumping his fists in the air as he watched the entire ship dissolve to nothing but the upper half and crash down into the water behind them where it was quickly crushed and devoured by the current.

"IT WAS DISGUESTING NOT COOL!" Nami screamed. Marcy stared hard at the girl. The teenager with acid green hair was still hovering above them on her purple cloud, though now, she was looking down her nose at them. A mocking grin on her childish face and a gleam in her eyes that occasionally appeared in Marcy's own. A look that told of knowledge and understanding not meant for someone like them. Pastel green met with poisonous purple and something sparked in the air. A violent tension that mixed and danced with one-sided fear and one-sided joy. Marcy was not feeling joy.

"Who are you?" Everyone waited for the girl's answer.

"I've never been given an official name, but this body was known as Celena. My actual body was referred to," The teenage girl floated down low enough to lean in close to Marcy's face. From behind the girl's back she carefully pulled out a single perfectly made doll. It was an exact smaller scale replica of Marcy. "as Marcy, but that names been officially given to you, so call me Big Sis. Okay?" The crew and Marcy tensed, unsure of how to proceed.

"What's she talking about, Marcy?" Nami looked at Marcy, their Marcy, not this child with a doll. Marcy's face hardened.

". . .Logue Town, right?"

"Bingo, Dolly."

"Why?"

"Why did I just help you?" Marcy nodded. "Who knows! Maybe I just want to make up for the years I wasn't there for my little sister. Maybe I have a grudge against the guy that's after you. Or maybe I just wanted to test out my new body's powers a bit." She shrugged, a malicious grin spreading her face.

"Little sister. . . New body? What's she talking about?" Ussop whispered looking at the girl then the doll and back.

"Not every doll gets a nice functioning body built for them, some of us have to borrow them." The girl winked at the crew. The realization hit the crew with a cold feeling. That poor child was more then likely dead. They were staring at a doll who wore people like costumes and this doll was claiming to be Marcy's sister. A spiked blade flew free from Marcy's wrist and at the girl on the purple cloud. The girl leaned slightly to avoid getting hit. Her tiny hand curled tightly around the twine connecting the blade to Marcy. "That wasn't nice." With a firm tug she pulled Marcy off the ship. A flick of her wrist and Marcy was sailing throw the air and slamming hard into what looked like a giant mountain. "Bye-bye!" The girl called sailing off on her cloud. Zoro moved to attack the girl only to stop when everyone started shouting. They were about to crash into a whale, not a mountain. He sent one single glare after the girl before rushing forward in time to hear the canon fire.

If Marcy could have seen the way their faces changed, she probably would have cried. . . Or laughed till her heart burned out.

At the moment Marcy's body slide down from it's indent in the poor whale, Luffy's special seat broke and Luffy punched the whale in the eye. Marcy fell into the ocean beside the ship and was promptly swallowed by the whale. Though she was only aware of twisting waters and a rapid current.

Finally everything calmed and Marcy sat at what she thought was the bottom of the sea. It was a green color. It tasted horrible and smelled almost as bad. Her pastel eyes looked around. Destroyed ships, skeletons, and treasure. Marcy stood, her hair floating and swishing around in the water looking more like a splash of black ink then silk. Carefully she picked her way through the wreckage and to piles of treasure. With out a care in the world, she rooted through a few of them. Picking out a few pieces here and there. As her satin hand reached out to grab a necklace (that was very pretty cause it was shaped like a serpentine dragon and it was green almost like her eyes with onyx ridges and red eyes and gold claws and Marcy reaaaaaaally wanted it), she noticed that her satin flesh was breaking apart. Slowly small patches were forming on her body were her flesh was being eaten away and floating away through what she thought was water. She decided it would be best for her to swim to land now or at least the surface. With the necklace (and quite a few gems and gold and maybe some other jewelry) tucked away in her stomach, she began paddling her way towards the surface. Who needs pockets when you've got stitches you can open and close whenever you want? She could also hide more and better with those then pockets. She was near the surface, when some freak with a crown on crashed into the water and slammed into Marcy. She stared at him and he stared back, before he began flailing his arms and kicking his feet. Marcy took pity on the guy and helped him paddle to the surface. She noticed Zoro dive into the water and grab Luffy along with some lady with blue hair. He gave her a wide eyed look as he paddled past and she only blinked at him before smiling. And that's when she noticed it. A horrible god awful burning pain on and in every inch of her body. With a speed that was defiantly causing the freak with the crown pain, Marcy paddled to the surface, breaking through and throwing the man onto the nearest solid object before she launched herself onto it too.

"IT BURNS!" Marcy's first and foremost concern was getting as much of that evil not water stuff out of her body. So she all but tore the ribbon from her chest, allowing her to open her marble rib cage. A flood of reddish pink gel, greenish liquid, and the stuff Marcy had gathered from the floor poured out onto the deck of the ship. With that done Marcy calmed down. Sure her body was now hollow, but at least the burning wasn't as bad.

"YOU WERE IN THAT STUFF!" Ussop shouted looking at Marcy who now had patches where her satin skin had dissolved to it's thin bottom layer. Marcy nodded at him. "How the hell am I supposed to fix those?" He grumbled, realizing he hadn't actually bought anything to use to fix Marcy. "Ummm, Marcy?" she hummed at him while ringing out her arms and legs. It looked more like she was giving herself an Indian burn. "I'm gunna have to borrow some of the fabric you bought, so I can do repairs on you." She gave him a blank look before sighing. Marcy now wished she had bought the cream colored satin cloth, but she hadn't. It wasn't the same quality as what her skin was made of so she didn't want to buy it.

"Oh wow!" Nami exclaimed as she picked up a few of the things Marcy had brought up with her. "These are pretty valuable. Good job, Marcy!" Marcy snatched the dragon necklace from Nami and put it on.

"You can have the rest, but this is mine." Nami pouted but nodded, she did get some profit from this experience. Marcy closed her rib cage and began re-lacing the seam on her front with the ribbon. She froze, feeling two stares of absolute horror on her form. The freak with the crown and the blue haired woman were staring at her with disgust and horror and amazement. "What?" They shook their heads and scooted back some. Marcy heard one of them whisper 'monster'. She turned her back to them, a dark cloud hanging around her as she traced random things onto the deck. "How cruel." Marcy whispered in a monotone voice, knees pulled to her chest.

"The whale stopped." Nami ignored Marcy and her cloud of misery. "So, Who are you?" Marcy didn't glance at the cruel weirdoes and instead turned to Ussop who was measuring the damaged areas of her stain flesh.

"Whale?" She questioned. Ussop nodded.

"Yeah, we're inside a whale's stomach."

"Does that mean I was in his tummy juice?" Ussop sighed but nodded.

"As long as I'm still alive, I won't let anyone touch this whale!" An old man that looked like he was growing some type of fungus from his head shouted.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Luffy questioned. Marcy sighed.

"I don't care anymore. Someone will explain at some point, so faze out." The two weirdoes began laughing before the crown weirdo spoke.

"But we are inside the whale now!" They pulled out canon gun things. "That means we can destroy the stomach and get out of here." They fired the canon gun things. "You can't stop us anymore." Marcy glared at them, when the old man jumped in front of the canon balls. She may not have had a single clue about what's going on, nor did she have any idea who was good or bad, but she decided that old fungus guy couldn't be the bad one if he's going to get hurt to save a whale.

"He used himself as a shield to protect the whale!" Ussop shouted, pointing out the obvious. Every group needed someone to do that. It's an important job after all. Marcy began advancing on the two. A glare bending her features. It's level of induced terror was doubled with the patch of satin flesh that been eaten through to show a small area of white marble bone.

"Is he protecting the whale?" Marcy decided it should have been obvious to Nami now.

"Haha! It's worthless. No matter what happens, this whale must be food for our town!" Before Marcy could strangle them like she wanted to, Luffy hit them on the heads with a blow that made Nami's punches look pathetic. Marcy wasn't going to say that out loud.

"Anyway, Let's take care of them first." Luffy said.

Several moments later, the crew found themselves sitting on the old fungus guys island thing talking. Luffy was climbing the tree, while Ussop and Nami mended Marcy's skin. Marcy sobbed as they stitched the patches onto her body. The only fabric sturdy enough to be used for the repairs was a grayish color with a slight purple twinge. There was a small square patch sewn on Marcy's right cheek, another medium sized patch on her right hand, a small one on her left leg, and a slightly larger one on her back. Marcy came to the conclusion that by the end of this adventure, she was going to look like a trashy rag doll. . . If she was even in one piece by then.

"This is an Irish Whale from the West Blue. It is the largest species of whale in this world. His name is Laboon. And these people are hooligans. They came from the town close to here. They are thinking of killing Laboon because Laboon's meat can feed them for 2-3 years. But I won't let them do that. There is a reason he uses his to hit the red line and cry." Marcy was crying harder now only because she had voiced her thoughts that she was going to look like a rag doll and Nami punched her with all her might before making large and rather crude stitches around the patches. Marcy no longer likes Nami. "One day while I was taking care of the light house, a group of pirates came to Loose Mountain with a little whale." Fungus man explained Laboon's story and how he's waiting for his dead friends. Marcy immediately understood Laboon's pain. She had waited in some trance for seventy years for her father. She knew the pain of waiting for the dead to return. She watched the water as they sailed through Laboon. She wished she could help him. This poor whale, more then anything, Marcy wanted to help him. She could feel the burning saddness in her body rekindle. Did everyone here simply think of Laboon as a poor creature who had been dealt a bad hand in life? Did they think him a fool for waiting so long and causing himself pain, even though he had been told his friends were gone? Had they thought of her the same? Annoyance bubbled inside her. They didn't have any right to think of her or Laboon as poor or foolish. what did they know? what right right did they have. Marcy's fingers bite into the wood railing. A small splinter puncturing into her finger brought her down from her anger. She took three deep completely unnecessary breaths before smiling brightly. She was going to talk to Laboon!

Once the two weirdoes were thrown overboard and everyone gathered around the fungus guy to talk about Laboon, Marcy sat herself directly in front of the whale, as close as she could get.

"Laboon, My name's Marcy." She waited a moment. "I was built one hundred and one years ago by a man named Ryuuden. I'm a doll he made to replace his dead daughter." Still nothing from the whale. Marcy's smile faded away and her eyes glazed over slightly. "He left one day to get something that could make me human and he never came back. I waited for at least seventy years for him to return, but he never did. The stress and pain made me go into a type of trance. I spent every day up until about a week ago thinking my father had left the day before. I don't understand your pain fully, since I'm a doll and I don't handle emotions well and all, but I can relate." A big black eye looked down at her. "We're kinda one in the same, ya know? Well not really, I guess. . . Anyway, I waited longer then you and look at how it turned out for me. I'm happy and I've got new friends. If it got better for me, then it will for you too."

"**BO?**" Marcy blinked at the whale.

"I have no idea what that meant, bu-"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Marcy was cut off by Luffy's screaming. Her face morphed into one of pure and utter shock and disbelief when she saw Luffy charging up Laboon with the ships mast in his arms. She fainted when he stabbed Laboon in the head with it. Marcy laid there with her eyes swirling and body twitching at random.

"I can't handle this anymore. . ." She whined as Luffy began to battle with the poor whale.

"We're even now!" Luffy shouted. "I'm good, right?" Marcy could feel her heart burning out by this point. She'd been amazed it hadn't happened sooner. After several, possibly hours, Marcy pulled together enough strength to sit up. She planned to walk to the ship and burn out in front of Ussop, but when she caught sight of the crude jolly roger painted on poor Laboon's head, her heart burned out immediately and she crashed back to the ground. Never before had Marcy been so glad to have her world drop into the dark abyss then she did right then.

Marcy's eyes snapped open and gazed at the ceiling. She was draped awkwardly on the couch in the girl's room. Apparently, no one had the decency to put her in a more comfortable position. Honestly, Marcy was rarely in this room. She enjoyed the open sky and flowing water too much to spend more time inside the ship then absolutely necessary. Slowly, she peeled herself from the couch, cringing when she caught sight of the grayish patches on her body, before heading outside. She was still in her bright orange bra and boy cut panties. Once out on the deck, Marcy just stood there. There was snow everywhere and it was freezing cold. Nami began screaming about turning around. Luffy pointed out a dolphin, the waves got stronger, the ship hit an iceburg, leaks started, the wind got too strong, the ship starting leaking again, and they were heading in the wrong direction again. Marcy did nothing but stand there the whole time.

"That was a good nap!" Zoro stretched and stood. "Eh? Even though it's good weather, it's not good to have everyone sleeping! I hope we're not lost."

"We might be. Nami had to change direction a lot while you were asleep."

"SHUT THE HELL UP! ALL YOU DID WAS STAND THERE! THAT'S WORSE THEN WHAT HE DID!" Nami grabbed one of the planks left over from repairs and began beating Marcy with it.

"WHY ARE YOU USING A PLANK!" Marcy screamed as she attempted to run from Nami.

"MY FISTS DON'T DO ENOUGH DAMAGE TO YOU! AND STOP RUNNING!"

"NO CHANCE IN HELL! IF I STOP RUNNING YOU'LL JUST BEAT ME!"

"OBVIOUSLY AND YOU'RE GUNNA SINK THE SHIP!" With one super powered swing, the plank broke in half over Marcy's head. Nami stood angry and huffing, while Marcy lay twitching on the deck.

"Why isn't she considered one of the monsters?" Marcy grumbled.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Nami slammed her foot down on Marcy's back before grinding her heel into satin flesh.

"NOTHING! I'M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

* * *

A man with 'metal' tattooed into the flesh side of his face stood on ground near Loose Mountain, the wrecked remains of his ship floating before him along with tarnished parts from his crew. He was pissed to say the least. Of all the stupid outcomes he had thought of and made a counter measure for, he never once thought that that traitorous bitch would come along and ruin everything. Why his captain adored that ungrateful garbage so much was beyond him. His captain had been so merciful as to give that pathetic doll the power she needed to live and the first thing that little brat did was turn around and try to kill him. When that failed instead of begging for forgiveness like she should have, she had the nerve to turn and run away. At least she was smart enough to know she couldn't win, but she must have gotten stupid over the years. To make such a direct challenge against the captain? He sneered. Maybe this would be enough for his captain to give a kill order on that damn doll.

"Doubtful. That bitch could ruin all of his plans and he'd still adore the ground she walked on. Fucking pathetic." He spat.

"Do I sense jealousy?" The man drew his short blade and whirled around to face a teenage girl with acid green hair.

"Don't make me kill you."

"If the fat bastard heard that said that to me, he'd gut you like a fish." She prowled a circle around him. "I'd be careful, Breaker." He snarled at the use of his name. This pathetic doll had no right to use it so casually.

"What do you want?"

"What do I want?" She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I want to watch the fat bastard die."

"Then go kill him." Breaker sneered as the girl tensed. "Oh, sorry, I forgot. You can't can you, Mar?"

"What a little prick you are." She said in a dangerous voice. "You're too much of that man's bitch to do anything properly though. You're quiet useless actually. You couldn't even get the heart from my little sister."

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU INTERFERRED!"

"I did, didn't I?" She smiled brightly at Breaker. "Well, it looks like that fat bastard's control over me isn't as strong anymore. Or maybe he just doesn't care if I kill you?" He lunged at her, aiming for the doll in her arms. She spat a stream of the same green liquid she used earlier at him. Everything it touched began to dissolve.

"That's a new power. Where'd you get it?" He watched in fascination as his blade melted.

"The Poison Poison Devil fruit. I had this body eat it before I borrowed it."

"Interesting. How about we test it out?" The girl turned away from him, her purple cloud of gas forming again and lifting her into the air.

"No. I'll let my little sister and her friends kill you. It's below me." She began to drift off in a random direction.

"That's not it." His grin became maniacal as he shouted after her. "You can't, can you? HAHA! Captain's still got control of you! You can't kill anyone on his crew, can you!?" His laughter ceased and blood rolled from his lips. Her hand was pushed clean through his chest. The wound sizzled at the edges as the flesh and metal began to dissolve from the green slime that her hand was now coated in.

"You're wrong." She pulled her hand free. Breaker's body fell to the ground and rapidly began to turn to a puddle of dissolved flesh and metal. He stared at her, his eyes slowly glazing over as his life left him. "I can kill everyone, but that bastard. That's why I need my little sister to survive. Because eventually, she and her friends will kill off all his pawns and the ones they can't I will. Once that happens, he'll be forced to come for her himself. They'll kill him and then maybe I'll kill them. I'm not sure yet." His eyes faded and she took off on her cloud again, a smile on her face.

* * *

**Brunetta6: I know your stories been out for a while and I meant to read it so I saved it to my computers favorites list thingy and then forgot about it and then remembered it so I read like two chapters then got distracted again and I finished reading it this week. :) I apologize for the lack of psychologicalness in this chapter. Sorry. **

**Nico1302: I can never really say anything to your reviews because if I do, I'll end up spoiling alot of stuff. . . Sorry, but no spoilers!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Woot Woot. Time for a new chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Nine

Marcy was not stupid. In her first month of existence when the heart was forging her personality, it had given her an intelligence that surpassed a normal person. No, she was not a genius, but she was not stupid. Marcy did not always allow the logical or intelligent portion of her being to be functionally fully at all times, which is what caused her childish and idiotic behavior. The reason she does this is simple, when that specific portion of her being is working to it's fullest the darker emotions that exist in all beings run free and uncontrolled. Marcy is afraid to learn what she could be capable of in such a state. Her strength and skill almost double, but her sense of compassion and morality disappear. To keep this all from happening, Marcy uses an abundance of happiness and love as a form of antidote to the more poisonous emotions. Case and point, Marcy is not stupid. So when she opened her eyes to stare directly into a cold wooden floor with no recollection of ever leaving the Merry or her heart burning out, she knew something was wrong.

Something had knocked her out, she decided, and that was rather hard to do without removing her heart. Marcy began her internal check, hunting for a single clue as to what could have downed her and wiped her memories of the last few hours at the least. The only things she found were a small burnt patch of satin flesh on the side of her neck and a few faint waves of electricity coursing through her system. A burn was far from enough to take her down, so maybe she obtained the burn when she fell to the ground. The electrical waves could simply be from the air, a lightening storm passing over them would be enough for her body to gather a moderate charge of it's own.

Marcy wasn't positive if she should get up and investigate or stay face first on the floor until something provoked her to move. If whoever downed her was still hanging around, she didn't want to meet them until she knew how they put her in this state. The faces of her friends flashed in her mind's eye and she decided it wouldn't hurt to take a peek around this room. With a soft unnecessary exhale to focus her, Marcy slide her eyes closed again. Her glass eyes began their rapid rotations in their sockets. The satin flesh and marble bone that made her skull faded from her vision and the room came into view. Playing before her eyes slightly blurred and jerky.

There were four other people in the room at the moment. Sanji, Ussop, Luffy (who looked like a bloated tick), and Nami. Or more precisely, Nami's feet and shins. Marcy attempted to adjust her vision, thinking that something may have been obscuring her sight. The image remained the same. The only explanation for Nami's lack of a body was that Marcy had developed a blind spot. She noted with a whine and a pout that it was more then likely because of the cracks in her eye. Maybe it would be for the best if she did get it replaced. A hand gently touched at her shoulder.

"Marcy?" The hand gave a slight shake. The voice was a gentle whisper laced with worry. "Marcy? Are you okay?" Carefully Marcy rolled herself over and blinked up at a frowning Nami.

"Why is Luffy so fat?" Worry was replaced with annoyance.

"After waking up on the floor the first thing you ask is that? Really?" Marcy nodded. Nami sighed. "He pigged out like usual then passed out." Nami helped Marcy to her feet. "Now help me steal these bounty hunters treasure." Marcy blinked again. "What?"

"Have I always been taller then you?" Marcy blinked for the third time. She couldn't remember if it was normal for her to eyes to be level with Nami's forehead.

"Of course you have! You're a doll how could you grow taller! Now go take care of the bounty hunters!" Nami growled.

"Bounty hunters?" Nami looked at Marcy oddly.

"Yeah, you don't remember?"

"Nope. Last thing I remember was just a bit after Papa Sanji made breakfast." Nami twitched, more then likely in disgust, when Marcy referred to Sanji as Papa. Everyone, but Luffy and Sanji found it odd and creepy.

"I thought you were only faking it when you hit the ground, but you really blacked out didn't you?"

"Yeah. And it seems like whatever they did wiped my memory of the last few hours." Nami hummed in thought for a moment.

"Maybe electrical currents react badly with your heart?"

"Why would electricity have anything to do with anything?"

"One of the bounty hunters put a rod against your neck and it emitted a massive shock, then you hit the ground. You were kind of steaming too."

"Oh okay. . . . AND YOU JUST WATCHED WHILE THEY DID THAT!?"

"I thought you were acting. How was I supposed to know it would actually affect you?"

"You. . . You. . . You're mean." Nami threw a grin at Marcy before pulling her out of the room and into another. Marcy offered Nami no help in her treasure hunt. Instead, Marcy peeked outside by use of some newly made bullet holes. The sight her pastel eyes beheld sent her hips and body wiggling in a very Sanji-like manner. A large grin pulled her face while a small 'eeee' type of squeal escaped her throat. Nami turned to stare at her, slightly afraid. Was Marcy channeling Sanji?

"Marcy, what are you doing?" Marcy turned to Nami, sparkles in her visible green eye.

"Zoro's so cool!" The doll squealed, still doing the odd wiggle dance. Marcy is no longer allowed to spend time with Sanji. The world did not need a spastic female version of Sanji. Any male Marcy went after would either run from her (Marcy often forgot how much she weighed or how strong she was and tended to cause accidental damage to people while she was being affectionate) or they would run from an angry blonde cook with a case of over protective father syndrome. "I wonder if he'll teach me!" Nami blinked only to see something laughable.

Marcy had in each of her hands her long needle like blades and one in her mouth. Nami didn't know where she had gotten the third one from and she wasn't going to ask. The doll had grabbed a random piece of fabric and tied it around her head like a bandanna in the same way Zoro does. Marcy also appeared to be trying to imitate Zoro's stance and facial expression. The stance was terrible, exceptionally so if Nami could tell that it was bad. Nami cringed, she had seen a few small fighting moves from Marcy and her style was better described as an aggressive dance, rough and filled with a forcefulness that didn't translate properly into sword play. The expression Marcy had decided upon could be considered somewhat like Zoro's though his made him look like a demon while Marcy's made her look possessed. It was not a pretty face. Nami's expression fell even further when Marcy began a pitiful attempt at performing some of Zoro's moves. The doll with a serious case of hero worship, Nami refused to call it anything else, only stopped her poor portrayal of Zoro's fighting skills when she accidentally stabbed herself in the leg. Nami isn't even positive how the poor girl managed that one.

"There's nothing really worth stealing here, so we might as well go check on Zoro." Marcy nodded happily, tucking two of her blades back into her arms before literally swallowing the blade she had grasped between her teeth. Nami spun around and began to walk away. She was beyond being bothered by any of the doll's weird and nasty abilities or actions. The sight that greeted Marcy when she finally joined Nami outside, made her pastel green eyes blink before painted pink lips spread into a grin. Luffy lay off to the side, still asleep with his fat belly jiggling in time with his snores. A sweaty, bloody, and lightly beaten Zoro stood, looking moderately disturbed as a rather tall man with exceptionally large hair clung to his ankle and shouted about Zoro protecting a princess.

"If you can take the princess to the great country of Alabasta, we will repay you with a great prize!" Zoro grumbled out some form of a threat while Nami suddenly became very interested in their conversation.

"A great prize? Is that really true?" Nami grinned with one eye closed while everyone stared at her. Marcy decided that this was her only chance to sneak away before Nami revealed her diabolical plan of pure greediness. Unfortunately for Marcy, she weighed two hundred and fifty pounds and she forgot there was an open barrel behind her. The back of her legs hit the edge and Marcy tilted backwards. Her satin hands grasped the edge of the barrel to support her body while her bottom dipped into the barrel an inch or so. Her feet and legs went up at an angle. Everyone ignored her and the barrel that was bending and creaking under Marcy's weight. "That's very interesting! How about 1 billion berri?" The barrel gave way under Marcy and she flopped to the ground, tangled in her own long limbs.

"Didn't you get drunk and fall asleep?"

"You think that I can sleep peacefully in a town that welcomes pirates?" Nami moved closer to Zoro, regarding Marcy with a single glance and shake of the head. "I pretended the whole time. Am I good or what?"

"Oh! Is that so?" Zoro's attention turned to the doll who was now in front of him giving him a weird grin and a (sparkley?) look. "Were you pretending too?"

"You mean you saw me go down?" Marcy's face fell.

"Yeah." At the apathetic look on the doll's face, Zoro stuttered out another sentence. "I figured you were alright, after all it was just a little shock."

"Of course. . . Just a little shock." The apathetic look stayed as Marcy turned and walked away, kicking at the ground. "So little that it knocked me out and wiped my memories from the last few hours. Glad ya'll were worried."

"You were really knocked out?" Marcy threw him a blank look. "That's weird. Shouldn't that slime stuff inside you have stopped the electricity or something?"

"It's _gel_ not _slime_ and it decreases impacts only. Also, I have a metal heart and metal pieces scattered though out my body, dimwit!"

"How was I supposed to know that?!" Zoro shouted back at the doll.

"If you paid more attention to my body then you'd know!" Zoro cringed back, a slight blush pulling across his nose and cheeks, Marcy was unaffected by her own words. "I mean seriously, there are detailed pictures in the galley! And if those don't help you, just tell me and I'll show you everything. Jeez."

"Watch what you say! You're too young to talk like that!"

"Huh? What do you mean? Did I say something bad?" Marcy paused to think. She couldn't find anything wrong with what she said. "WAIT, WHAT DO MEAN TOO YOUNG!? I'M AT LEAST FOUR TIMES YOUR AGE!"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

"BOTH OF YOU BE QUIET!" Nami slammed her fists into both of their heads. A lump formed on Zoro's head and Marcy stuck her tongue out at him since she was left with no mark. Zoro drew a single sword and swiped it at her. Marcy squealed and rolled to the side. "Anyway, Back to business. So? Are you willing to pay me one billion berri, Mr. Royal Guard? If we don't help you, your princess will die for sure." Zoro swiped at Marcy again only to get his foot stomped on. He cringed, feeling his toes crunch beneath Marcy's dainty satin foot.

"HOW CAN A SOLIDER LIKE ME FIND THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY?" While Zoro was distracted by his now pounding and possibly broken toes, Marcy leapt behind him and launched herself at his back.

"Huh? So, your princess is worthless compared to money?" Marcy slammed into his back and latched on tightly. Zoro let out a grunt and a 'gak'ing sound as he stumbled forward, his face nearly greeting the ground. "Just pay."

"IF. . . IF YOU CAN HELP THE PRINCESS, YOU CAN DEAL WITH HER DIRECTLY. I'M SURE THAT SHE WILL AGREE!" Zoro began his attempt to remove the doll from his back only to earn a giggle and her legs tightening around his waist.

"You mean that we have to help the princess first?" Zoro grabbed hold of Marcy's foot and bent it at an odd angle in an attempt to remove her leg from around his body.

"During our negotiation, the princess is. . . .!" Marcy let out a squeal of pain before retaliating by biting down into Zoro's shoulder.

"OK! I'll help the princess first." Zoro let out a shout before pulling on her body more. "WELL! GO, ZORO!" Zoro and Marcy both looked at Nami in confusion for a moment. Marcy released Zoro's shoulder from her mouth before Zoro started shouted.

"IF YOU WANT TO DO THAT, WHY DON'T YOU GO BY YOURSELF!? HOW COME I HAVE TO HELP YOU GET MONEY? Besides, I have this ancient rag doll to deal with." Marcy hissed 'ancient?' before slipping two fingers into the corner of his mouth and pulling.

"Are you crazy? If it's about money, it sure is about me. But if it's about the promise, everyone must be involved too."

"YOU ARE REALLY SELFISH!" Zoro ripped Marcy's hand away from his face, only to have the other reach out and grab hold of his earrings. He turned his head and attempted to bite her fingers.

"What? I just asked you to hurt someone. Is that a problem?" On Zoro's next attempt to bite her fingers, Marcy grabbed his nose.

"I hate to be used by people!" Zoro's free hand reached for her face, only to be bitten multiple times. His hand then caught hold of her hair and pulled. In response, Marcy began jerking his head around by his nose.

"Are you afraid that you're gunna lose to them?" Zoro pulled her hair harder and Marcy released his nose in favor of poking him in the eye and biting his shoulder again.

"What!? Say that again!"

"Are you afraid you're gunna lose to them?" Marcy halted her attack and propped her chin on the shoulder she had moments ago been gnawing on. Her hand ceased it's assault on his face in order to hang limply over his other shoulder. Zoro released her hair, but kept tight hold of her hand incase she decided to assault him some more.

"I meant that you should change your words, not repeat them!" Marcy yawned and grumbled before nuzzling into the crook of Zoro's neck. He froze, ready to be chewed on again.

"Did you forget? You still owe me." Zoro felt a disturbed chill run down his spine as he heard Marcy _sniff_ him.

"When was that? Stop making up stories." Marcy sniffed him again. "What the hell are you doing anyway!?" Marcy lifted her face from his neck and knocked their foreheads together.

"Nothing. Why?" She had an apathetic expression and monotone voice.

"It's creepy."

"Good." Marcy grinned wildly before rubbing her check against his. Zoro didn't understand what was going on, but he wasn't okay with it.

"I lent you 100,000 berri at Logue Town, so you could buy your swords." Nami wasn't even going to acknowledge whatever kind of moment those two were having. Nami decided that it was very well possible that the electrical shock Marcy had received screwed with her personality slightly. Since Marcy's entire existence was due to that heart, it was possible that any damage to the heart would have a lasting effect on Marcy herself. She would have to get Ussop to check Marcy over after all of this.

"But I've already given that back to you because I got my swords for free." Zoro attempted to push Marcy away from him.

"But you also promised me that you would pay me three times interest, right? You still me owe me 200,000 berri." Marcy released Zoro and went in hunt of something more interesting to do. Had she heard Zoro's sigh of relief, she would have reattached herself to his back and continued her assault on the poor swordsman. Marcy tuned out Zoro and Nami's continued discussion in favor of humming a blissful tune and making her way to the giant cactuses.

Marcy's trek stopped when she heard voices and caught sight of the badly burnt body of a very muscular woman. Her eyes then found three other people. A man picking his nose. A woman who reminded Marcy of a citrus fruit. And one of the mean weirdoes that they helped earlier, except she was riding a duck.

"You can't get away from me. . . Booger Bullet!" Marcy gagged as he flicked his booger at the girl on the duck. Zoro, like a ninja in the night, appeared in front of the girl on the duck and cut the booger in half. The two halves exploded and Marcy flinched, disgusted and concerned. Boogies should not go boom.

"Mr. Bushido!" The lady on the duck screamed.

"Who is that guy?" The booger flicker asked.

"I HAD TO CUT A BOOGER?!" Marcy laughed at him. "AND WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE LAUGHING AT ME!?"

"I refuse to go anywhere near a booger."

"Why do you have to show up in a situation like this?" The lady on the duck shouted as she twirled a circular blade on string around. Zoro blocked it with his sword.

"Calm down. I've come here to help you."

"Nami finally badgered you into it, huh?"

"Shut up! You're helping too!" Marcy held her arms up in an 'x' shape.

"Request denied!" Zoro growled at her before returning his attention to the other man.

"So, you're the swordsman who destroyed this town."

"Hmm? Why does he have to protect the princess of Alabasta?" The citrus lady asked.

"I have my own reasons." Zoro responded before snapping at Marcy when mumbled something along the lines of 'more like Nami's reasons.'

"Never mind. You still can't compare to us. Just another worthless obstacle." Marcy frowned. She didn't appreciate the way that man was talking.

"That's right. So, this obstacle. ." Citrus lady pulled her hat from her head and grinned. "Shall be crushed to the ground by my power." Marcy hoped her power wasn't anything like her partner's power. Suddenly Marcy's attention was gained by a still very fat and incredibly angry Luffy.

"ZORO!"

"Luffy. If you've come to help me, that's not necessary. Or did you owe that girl, too?"

"I WON'T FORGIVE YOU THIS TIME! LET'S FIGHT!" Marcy blinked confused. Did something happen? She couldn't remember the last few hours so it was very possible.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I DON'T UNDERSTAND AT ALL!"

"SHUT UP! I WILL CRUSH THE UNGRATEFUL LIKE YOU TO THE GROUND!" Marcy, who was just as confused as Zoro, gave up on trying to understand and moved to stand beside the girl and her duck.

"Hello. You're very adorable." Marcy grinned a face splitting smile. "My name's Marcy. What's yours?" The girl and duck stared at her confused.

"Thank you. My name's Vivi." Marcy's face dead panned for a moment.

"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to the duck." Vivi became nervous and confused.

"His name is Karu." Marcy grinned again and began petting the duck, who started sweating profusely. Vivi knew Karu was afraid and honestly she was a little bit too. The girl wasn't human, Vivi had seen that for herself when she walked into the galley on their ship and saw the long nosed man and the navigator tucking a metal heart into the girls chest before latching and lacing it shut. Vivi had come to the conclusion that Marcy was a devil fruit user. Vivi's attention was drawn back to the fighting Straw hat and the swordsman. "Aren't you going to stop them or something?" She asked Marcy. Pastel green eyes looked from Karu to the fight and she shrugged.

"Nah." She waved her hand at the two fighting. "They'll sort things out."

"Really?" Vivi felt sweat run down her face before her attention turned to Mr. Five and Ms. Valentine.

"Mr. Five. . . It seems that he didn't come to stop us."

"That maybe right, Ms. Valentine. Anyway we'd better take care of our business as soon as possible. Let's go Ms. Valentine."

"Yes, Mr. Five!" Vivi wasn't sure what to think when the two were thrown threw a building with the bloated Luffy. Marcy just shrugged and went back to cooing at Karu. The building collapsed and out shot Ms. Valentine. Vivi and the duck looked frightened again.

"I am really angry now! You all must die with by my special ability from the Kilo Kilo Fruit! Be prepared! Right now, my weight is only 1 kilogram, so I can jump very high! Besides. . ." Marcy wondered if it was common for people to make long winded explanations of their abilities during a fight. She also wondered why no one ever attacked during those speeches. It was a great opportunity.

"Mr. Bushido, get out of there! That woman will-"

"Shut up." Marcy wondered if Vivi had something against Zoro's name. "This is not the time to worry about that." Luffy emerged from the destroyed building, holding a badly beaten Mr. Five.

"Ha. . . That exercise made all of my food digest again."

"M-Mr. Five!? You must be kidding! He's an officer agent of Baroque Works!" Marcy looked at the startled Vivi.

"He flicks explosive boogers. He couldn't have been that tough."

"You. . . You don't know anything about Baroque Works, do you!?"

"Nope." Marcy turned her attention back to Luffy and Zoro. "And it doesn't matter anyway cause Luffy and Zoro can beat the poop out of anyone."

"A-are you sure?"

"Why would I say something I didn't believe?" Zoro and Luffy sent each other flying into opposite buildings. Sparkles appeared in Marcy's eye and she wiggled a little bit. "They're so cool." Vivi gawked at her.

"Aren't they supposed to be friends?" Marcy nodded. "Then why are they trying to kill each other and why are you just standing there acting like a fan girl!?"

"They'll yell at me if I interfere."

"What am I going to do? If I can get through this, I'll be safe." As soon as Vivi started forward on Karu, Luffy and Zoro charged each other. Poor girl and her duck nearly had a heart attack. Mr. Five and Ms. Valentine rushed forward only to have two very pissed off pirates round on them.

"Both of you shut up! Don't you dare get involved." Mr. Five made a face that reminded Marcy of Ussop while Ms. Valentine sobbed. Marcy giggled. The two Baroque works agents were then taken down. Marcy turned to Vivi.

"See? Aren't they cool?"

"More like scary. . ."

"Cool. Scary. What's the difference?"

"A lot. Though, I never thought I'd meet these kind of people at the entrance of the Grand Line." As Luffy and Zoro began their battle again, Nami the mighty slammed her fists into their faces.

"STOP BEING STUPID, YOU TWO!" Marcy wondered briefly, that if only blades and sharp objects could actually hurt Luffy, then why did he always end up with a bump when Nami slugged him? Was Nami that strong? "As long as you protect that girl, everything should be fine!" And now Nami was shaking the two by their shirts. "I WAS SO CLOSE TO LOSING 1 BILLION BERRI! DID YOU REALISE THAT?"

"What are you talking about? And why are you helping me?" Zoro and Luffy began clawing at each other. Marcy found that to be funny.

"At least Marcy stayed focused."

"I was playing with the duck."

"Why am I not surprised?" Nami turned to Vivi with a small smile. "We have to talk. How about some negotiations?"

"Negotiations?" Nami once again slammed her fists into the boy's heads.

"STOP FIGHTING!" Karu looked horrified.

"She's a demon. Be careful." Nami flashed sharp teeth at Marcy who squealed and hid behind the shivering wide eyed duck.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me first?" Luffy laughed after the explanation of why Zoro kicked everyone's collective ass. "I thought that you were mad because they didn't have your favorite food."

"Don't compare me with you!" Marcy sat there grumbling.

"I still can't believe Zoro and Nami saw me go down and didn't do anything to help me. . . Some friends. . ."

"You were knocked out too?" Luffy asked looking confused. Marcy nodded at him. "But I thought you didn't sleep?"

"Weren't you paying attention to their explanation of what happened?"

"Not really." Marcy turned her back to them. A cloud of misery rolling around her body as she once again began tracing shapes on the ground. Nami and Vivi continued their negotiations.

"That's impossible. Anyway, thank you for saving my life." Marcy scooted closer to Karu, who shot her a nervous look.

"Why? Aren't you a princess? It's just 1 billion berri." Marcy reached out to pet Karu and he fled. Her cloud of misery expanded.

"Do you know of Alabasta?"

"No. I've never heard of that before."

"It used to be the most peaceful and civilized nation on the Grand Line."

"Used to?"

"During these past three years, there was a civil war. The citizens started to create turmoil and disturb the nation. Until one day, I heard about an organization called Baroque works. I learned that our citizens were persuaded by this organization. Besides that, I don't know anything. So, we can't do anything about them. I asked Igaram, the person who always took care of me, to help me. With a rumor, we can't do anything. We decided to join Baroque Works to dig up some secrets. So that we could learn the real identity of their leader and his purpose."

"You're a brave princess." Marcy nodded in agreement with Zoro's statement.

"The main purpose of Baroque works is to build a 'dream country', right? Wait a minute. Isn't this. . ."

"Yes. Boss used the words 'dream country' to control everyone. But the actual goal of Baroque works is to conquer Alabasta. I have to hurry up and warn everyone. If I can't stop everyone, we will fall for Baroque Works plan."

"That's right, a nation in turmoil wouldn't have that much money, right?" Nami sighed.

"So, who is the boss?"

"The boss? You're better not knowing that." Vivi waved her hand frantically at Luffy. "That's the only thing I can't tell you because it can cost you your life."

"Hahahah. It's good that you're not telling us because someone who wants to conquer a nation would be the worst man ever, right?"

"That's right. No matter how good you are, you can't compare to Crocodile, one of the seven pirate war lords." Marcy looked up startled.

"Didn't you just say his name?" Zoro grumbled.

"How do you guys make faces like that?" Marcy whispered amazed. She could careless about some animal trying to rule a nation, actually a part of her thought that it would pretty cool to see a crocodile rule a country, she was more interested in the amazing and scary faces these people kept making. "I can understand Luffy making them cause he's all stretchy, but you guys?" In time with everyone else, Marcy's attention was turned to an otter and a vulture. No one said anything and no one moved.

"WHAT'S WITH THAT VULTURE AND OTTER? DIDN'T THEY GO TO REPORT TO YOUR BOSS THAT WE KNOW HIS SECRET? TELL ME!" Nami shook the sobbing Vivi. Marcy leaned over to Luffy.

"They were so cute." She grinned wildly. "We should get some animals on our crew next." Luffy nodded in agreement.

"I'M REALLY SORRY. I DIDN'T INTEND TO TELL YOU!" Vivi sobbed.

"THAT'S ALL YOU CAN SAY!?" Nami made another scary face with sharp teeth. "We just got to the Grand Line, and already one of the seven pirate war lords wants us dead."

"I've never thought we would meet them this early. We're so lucky." Zoro said, looking not in the least bit upset over it all.

"I wonder what kind of person he is?" Luffy questioned.

"Huh? He's a person? I thought he was a crocodile?" Zoro shook his head at Marcy.

"His name is Crocodile." Marcy 'oh'ed and grinned. That wasn't as cool as a crocodile taking over a nation.

"Shut up!" Nami turned and began to walk away. "Thank you for everything even though it was just a short period of time."

"Hey! Where are you going, Nami?"

"He still doesn't know my face, so I'd better escape now." And because the world on occasion seems to hate Nami, the otter and vulture appeared. The otter held up perfectly drawn portraits of each of them. Nami clapped. "Wow! You're good!" Nami rounded on her four companions. "THIS MEANS THAT I CAN'T RUN AWAY NOW!"

"We definitely need an animal that can do something cool now." Marcy said to Luffy.

"That otter is very interesting." He grinned back at Marcy. "We should get one that can sing." Marcy nodded enthusiastically.

"So, this means that we're in Baroque Works' black list now." Zoro smirked.

"That's so exciting."

"Nami! That's my cloud of misery!" Marcy stomped her foot and pouted at Nami who sat near the wall with her knees to her chest. A dark cloud hung over her while Vivi tried to comfort her.

"I'm borrowing it." Marcy stuck her tongue out at Nami.

"Don't worry everyone!" Marcy twitched and dove behind Zoro. "I have a plan." Zoro looked away from the cross dressed Igaram and to the shivering Marcy.

"What are you doing?" Marcy looked at him with scared wide eyes.

"Okama." She whispered.

"What about him?"

"Sanji told me that Okama are evil and they'll taint my innocence. I don't know what that means, but it doesn't sound good." Zoro sighed. He was going to have to have a talk with the Love cook about not filling the doll's mind with lies.

"Let me tell you something, because Crocodile is one of the seven war lords the government doesn't want him. But when he was a pirate his bounty was 80 million berri. So how about the of taking the princess to Alabasta?" Marcy remained behind Zoro.

"80 MILLION BERRI! THAT'S FOUR TIMES HIGHER THEN ARLONG! JUST DENY IT!" No one listened to Nami.

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Luffy questioned.

"He wants us to take that girl home."

"Oh, really? Sure. Why not?"

"Princess please give me the eternal pose." Igaram said to Vivi. Marcy hissed at him when came closer to the group. Zoro flicked her on the nose to silence her.

"What's an eternal pose?" Nami questioned with tears still running down her face.

"You don't know of it?" Her head shook in the negative. "It's a permanently set to a single island. The regular log pose will guide you from one island to another, right? This kind of log pose once it has memorized the frequency it will record that forever. No matter where you are, it will guide you to that island only. This log pose has been set to Alabasta." He turned directly to Vivi now. "Listen to me, Princess Vivi. I will disguise myself as you and take these dummies with me to Alabasta. While Baroque Work's is chasing me, please go with these people to Alabasta by using a regular route. I've never used that route but I think you should pass two or three islands before you reach Alabasta. If you are safe, I hope to see you at our country." Igaram bid his farewells and boarded the ship. Marcy stared after him, finally coming from behind Zoro and waving a slight good bye to the man.

"He's gone. He's still cool until the last minute." Marcy wondered what was so cool about dressing like a woman.

"He is person that I can rely on." Marcy looked out to admire the beautiful night sky, just moments before an explosion rocked the air and brightened the night. Luffy shouted in rage and Zoro began to bark out orders. Marcy stared at the cloud of smoke before turning to look at Vivi. She grabbed her bridal style and took off running for the Merry. Nami followed directly behind her. Luffy broke off to grab Sanji and Ussop. Once they reached the ship, Vivi kicked up a fuss and wiggled her way out of Marcy's arms.

"Where's Karu?" Vivi questioned looking around. Marcy tensed, remembering the moment when he fled from her for trying to pet him. "We have to go look for him!"

"But we don't have anytime to look for him now!"

"But I can't leave him here!"

"Hey what's wrong?" Zoro asked from the deck of Merry.

"Karu disappeared so she has to whistle and find him."

"Are you talking about this duck?" Karu waved at them and Marcy waved back. "He was here before me." With that done everyone boarded the Merry and they were off.

"Do you know how many people will follow us?" Luffy asked Vivi.

"I'm not sure, but there are about 2,000 people working for Baroque works, and there are many towns similar to whisky peak. I think maybe about 1,000. Because we know who the boss is and that's a very big deal." Sanji and Ussop woke a few hours later and began to fuss about leaving. Instead of an explanation they got a fist to the skull courtesy of Nami.

"Hey, this ship is good." Everyone whirled around to stare at the woman in a cowboy hat who appeared. "I just met Mr. Eight over there, Ms. Wednesday. . ."

"Did you kill Igaram?"

"Who allowed you to get on our ship?" Marcy tensed while Luffy yelled. She didn't like this lady.

"Why are you here, Ms. All Sunday!?"

"Who is she and where is her partner?" Nami Questioned.

"She's the boss's partner, and the one who knows the boss. I followed her to find out his true identity."

"Actually, I just let you follow me."

"So, she's a good person?" Even Marcy knew she wasn't good.

"I knew that! You're also the person who told Boss about me too, right?"

"What? So, she is a bad person?"

"What do you want from me!?"

"Because I feel that you worked really hard, I decided to help you. However helping the princess who wants to help her nation and deciding to become Baroque Works' enemy is a very stupid thing to do."

"STOP INSULTING ME!" Sanji and Ussop appeared on either side of Ms. All Sunday. Sanji with a gun in hand and Ussop wielding his sling shot. Zoro had a sword drawn. Nami had her staff out. A spiked blade slide free from Marcy's wrist.

"Hey. You're doing this because you know what you're supposed to do, right?" Ussop questioned Sanji.

"No, but it seems that this girl is dangerous to my beloved Ms. Wednesday, so I can't let her live."

"But those things are dangerous." Suddenly the two were thrown over the railing. "Don't point them at me."

"Wow! Actually, she is really beautiful!" Marcy placed a foot between Sanji's shoulder blades and pushed him back down.

"Flirt later, Papa Sanji." Sanji grumbled and looked up at Marcy. He blinked. He'd never seen his precious daughter's face so serious before.

"Calm down. I haven't received any orders yet. So there is no reason to you fight you now. So you're the captain, Monkey D. Luffy, right?" Luffy hat left his head and landed in her hand.

"GIVE ME BACK MY HAT! DO YOU WANNA FIGHT!?" Ussop shouted along with Luffy, except he was behind the mast. Everyone ignored him.

"You are so unlucky to help the princess, who is the enemy of Baroque Works. And you too, Princess. You only have a few pirates to take care of you." She placed Luffy's hat on top of her own. "But worst of all is the direction that you are heading in. Your next destination is Little Garden. We don't have to do anything over there and you might not make it to Alabasta. You all will disappear from this world before you see Crocodile's face."

"Do you think we care what you have to say!? GIVE ME BACK MY HAT!" Ussop continued to shout from behind the mast. Still no one really noticed.

"Stop barking. Anyone can boast." Luffy's hat landed on his head as she tossed something to Vivi. "You're going to face many obstacles, but you're still going to go there. You're really crazy."

"An eternal pose?" Vivi questioned.

"If you have that, you can avoid those obstacles and go straight to Alabasta. Our boss doesn't even know the way to get there so we can't follow you."

"So, she is a good person?"

"I doubt it, Nami." Nami blinked at the serious look on Marcy's face. The expression alone made her look much older, far from her usual teenage appearance.

"Why are you doing this?" Vivi demanded.

"I think it's trap."

"I'll let you decide if it's a trap or not." Luffy snatched the eternal pose from Vivi.

"Don't worry about that." He then crushed it in his hand. Nami kicked him in the face and started screaming. "You don't have a right to decide our route!"

"Really? That's a pity. I don't mind a person with a great spirit like you. If you're lucky we shall meet again." She stood from the railing. Her Aqua eyes locked with Marcy's pastel green one. "And if I'm lucky. I'll get a peek at that heart of yours. The relic of life from the ancient soldier. The Soldier's heart, I wonder what secrets it's text holds." Before Marcy could respond, she jumped from the Merry and onto the back of a giant turtle.


	10. Chapter 10

**HOLY CHEESE IT'S CHAPTER 10! CHAPTER 10! AAAAAAAAAH! DOUBLE DIGITS! Haha. That means that at the end of this chapter there will be an extra episode. I may add an extra episode every ten chapters or something like that. What do you guys think?**

* * *

Chapter 10

Today was calm, well as calm as this ship could be. Luffy was sitting on his special seat, Nami was relaxing on a beach chair, Sanji was cooking lunch, Zoro was leaning against the railing, Marcy was repairing clothes, and Ussop was tinkering with a small contraption. They left Whiskey Peak yesterday and where still on course for Little Garden. Vivi sat next to Nami, her gaze kept flickering to Marcy.

"May I ask something?" Nami looked up from her map and to Vivi. She followed her gaze to Marcy. Who was grinning happily as she fixed their damaged clothes.

"You want to know what Marcy is, don't you?" Vivi looked startled for a moment.

"Y-yes. If it's not rude of me to ask, but is she like that from eating a Devil Fruit?"

"You'd think so, but nope. That's the way she always has been."

"How?"

"She's a doll. A man named Ryuuden built her."

"Alright, but how is she alive? How can she walk around and talk?"

"She's got this heart. It's ancient, but you should really ask her if you want to know about it." Nami looked back down at her map. "And you should thank her for that pile of clothes I gave you."

"Alright, but may I ask why?" Nami grinned at her.

"She sewed them all for you and she won't let me charge you for them."

"But that was yesterday. How did she make all of them in only a few hours?"

"She learned from two of the best. She can make high quality clothes in under an hour." Vivi blinked turning her eyes back to the doll, who was still working carefully on Zoro's torn shirt.

Marcy worked carefully, each tiny stitch perfectly placed. Zoro opened one eye and looked down at her. She was working on that same tear in his shirt when he first closed his eyes. He watched as she hummed happily, while her fingers moved in an odd pattern for mending a tear. With every stitch, her hand moved differently. Pushed through at a different angle, pulled in a different direction.

"What kind of pattern are you making?" Marcy twitched, startled before looking up into Zoro's opened eye.

"Pattern?" She questioned, looking confused.

"Yeah, the way you're stitching, it's not like what you do when you make clothes." Marcy hummed, a grin splitting her face.

"It's a message, not a pattern." Zoro blinked at her.

"Message?" She nodded.

"Yup. I always do this for torn clothes."

"Why?"

"Why? Hmmm. I'm not sure. I think it may be my way of telling you guys I care. Maybe it's my way of wishing you luck or maybe it's me letting you guys know I'll always be with you. I don't even know!" She gave a small laugh before continuing with her stitches.

"I didn't even know you did that." Ussop stated, now watching Marcy's hand stitch instead of tinkering with his contraption. He ran a finger over a line of barely visible stitches. Ussop wondered if she did that to everyone's clothes.

"I always do it, not my fault that no one notices."

"Jeez, sorry." Ussop grumbled. "What do they say anyway?" Marcy stuck her tongue out at him.

"That's a secret!" Ussop grumbled some more and Zoro laughed.

"You fix our clothes a lot. Do you even remember what each stitch says?" Marcy gave him a secretive glance.

"I don't have to remember. I can read them." Both men looked skeptical.

"I can't even read them with my goggles on, so how can you?"

"One of many tricks I can do." Marcy grinned widely them. "I think the messages are more for me then you guys. . . I can read every last one of them."

"You sure you don't want to tell us what they say?" Ussop questioned again, wondering what she could possibly want to stitch into their clothes. Especially if only she could read them.

"Who knows, Ussop, maybe she's making fun of us." Zoro said before leaning back and returning to his nap. Ussop looked at Marcy to deny the statement, but she just grinned and returned to stitching. She continued on working steadily through the massive pile of torn clothes (she had no idea they would ruin this many clothes that fast)while the others fooled around. Sanji came dancing out of the kitchen with drinks, but Marcy refused. She had to focus on the stitching. She was only brought out of her working trance when someone mentioned an animal.

"Everyone look at the dolphin." Everyone turned and watched the beautiful creature leap from the water.

"That's so cute." Nami sighed happily. Everyone froze.

"BUT IT'S TOO BIG!" They all screamed.

"LET'S RUN AWAY!"

"AYE AYE, CAPTIAN!" They all looked far too excited to be running away.

"Why are the fishies always so big!" Marcy hollered as she stared wide eyed at the dolphin. "I miss the little fishies!" Marcy gathered up the mended clothes and stomped into the cabin of the Merry to put them away.

"Umm. Guys, why's the boat shaking?" Vivi asked slightly panicked. Nami turned to her with sigh, while everyone waved it off.

"That's because of Marcy. Whenever she runs, jumps, stomps, or falls Merry shakes."

"She can't be that heavy. . ."

"She's 250 pounds."

"T-that much?" Nami nodded. "But that isn't enough to shake an entire ship."

"Merry's just a caravel. She's not a big ship."

"Marcy also doesn't know how to control her weight distribution." Zoro stated. Nami and Vivi blinked at him. "That's why the Merry shakes. Marcy puts all of her weight into every step and she uses more force then necessary to move her weight."

"Is that why she walks so heavy?"

"Mhm. It's a pretty big hindrance especially in a fight. Opponents will hear her coming a mile away and she doesn't even have speed on her side. Just a lot of weight and force." Nami looked away from Zoro and out to see. She stared at the island before raising the Log Pose. The needle pointed at the island. They sailed inland just as Marcy appeared from below deck again.

"OH PRETTY!" She squealed rushing to the railing to gaze at the trees.

"Be careful. I'm worried about what Ms. All Sunday said." Vivi requested.

"Will there be monsters here?' Ussop asked. Marcy grinned at him.

"I hope so!"

"I don't know." Sanji exhaled a swirling stream of smoke. "But we have to find more food because we didn't buy anything from the last town."

"How come it's not as cute as it's name?" Nami whined.

"I think it's cute." Marcy stated with a huge grin.

"You thought the Sea Kings were cute." Nami dead panned.

"They were!" Marcy argued.

"I've never seen these kinds of trees before."

"Ignoring me does not make you the winner of this argument!" Marcy shouted just before a strange cawing was heard. Marcy watched amazed at the bird thing flew towards them.

"What's that?" Nami demanded scared.

"You're so cute, Nami! Don't worry. It's just a bird. And this place is just a normal forest."

"Is that a gecko?" Luffy questioned.

"That's an awesome gecko. . ." Marcy decided she was going to find a pet on this island. A volcano erupted and then a bloody tiger feel out of the forest. Marcy began to shake with excitement.

"I've decided that we will not go down there." Ussop said as if people cared what he decided.

"I'll stay here until the Log Pose records this island and then get out of here as soon as possible. We have to hurry and go to Alabasta."

"I'll go down there and find a cute pet to take with us!" Marcy stated as she began to climb over the railing. Zoro grabbed her by the back of her neck.

"No chance in hell! Besides you'd probably bring back something that'd eat us in our sleep." Marcy stuck out her tongue.

"Sanji, prepare a lunchbox!" Luffy was shaking with excitement.

"Lunchbox?"

"Yes. A pirate's lunchbox! I smell adventure!" Marcy sniffed the air.

"I smell bananas. . ." Everyone stared at her. "Does adventure smell like bananas? Cause that's all I smell."

"It's just an expression, Marcy." Ussop stated, amazed that she was actually sniffing for adventure.

"Oh. . . Well I still smell bananas."

"Hey! Wait a minute! Where do you think you're going?" Nami shouted.

"On an adventure. Do you want to come?" Nami turned away with tears running down her face.

"Can I go with you?" Vivi asked. Marcy pouted. They were leaving the ship but she wasn't allowed too. Luffy agreed and Nami shouted a bit more. "If I don't do anything, I'll keep thinking. I want to relax before the Log Pose resets." With that they were off and Marcy pouted even more.

"I'm bored. I think I'll go take a walk."

"Not fair! I wanna go too!" Marcy shouted before latching herself onto Zoro's leg.

"You can come too if you want." Zoro said shaking her off his leg.

"Yay! Zoro's gunna help me find a pet!"

"I already said no pets!"

"You suck." Zoro snorted before he started on his way, Marcy tailing him like a puppy.

"Zoro, Wait!" Sanji shouted. Zoro turned back to look at him. Grabbing the back of Marcy's shirt when she tried to walk off without him. "There's no food left. Can you hunt for some animals, too?"

"I know. Since you can't do it yourself, I'll hunt something for you." Marcy slipped out her shirt and took off running. Zoro turned to chase her.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Sanji shouted. Zoro turned back to look at him.

"What?"

"Are you saying that you can hunt bigger animals then I can?"

"Damn right." And Marcy's escape was forgotten even though Zoro had her shirt still clutched in his hand.

"OK! WHY DON'T WE COMPETE THEN?"

"How come all of them are like this?" Nami sobbed. "They even let Marcy run off by herself. Who knows what she'll come back with."

"I completely understand your feelings. Don't cry. I'll be here with you. Who knows maybe Marcy will just come back with a plant."

"It'd still probably try to eat us."

"At least we have each other." Which was just as bad as being alone.

* * *

Marcy with no one to watch her, had begun her hunt for a cute pet to take back to the Merry. It'd have to be small, but big enough for her to ride on. Something that could handle itself well in a fight. So something claws and teeth and fluffy fur for cuddling. Marcy marched through the trees, a some leaves falling free to the ground with each of her heavy footed stomps.

"Where the hell are all the animals?" She whined. "We saw two as soon as we got here and now I don't see any!" She crossed her arms, pouting at the trees. "Luffy's probably having all kinds of fun. Stupid jerk." The doll continued her angry trek through the forest, hoping to see at least one animal. After another twenty minutes of trees that looked the same and seeing no animals at all, Marcy spotted something familiar. A head of green hair and three swords.

"ZORO!" Marcy shrieked, moving to throw herself at him. She froze mid jump and placed both feet firmly on the ground. Her eyes ran over every visible inch of him. Immediately she knew it wasn't Zoro. There was one single thing missing.

Nowhere on his clothes were the lines of stitches forming her messages. Everyone but Nami, had at least one tear mended with her message on every article of clothing. Marcy took a step back. Zoro's smirking face remained the same, his arms stayed crossed. He didn't move. Marcy couldn't even see his chest move with his breathes. Yeah, this wasn't Zoro.

"Imma go that way!" With that, Marcy turned and started on her way again.

"Well, Mr. Five, it looks like she could see through Mr. Three's wax dummy."

"It sure does, Ms. Valentine. Guess we'll just have to take this one by force." Marcy turned and glared at Mr. Five.

"Don't come anywhere near me, you nasty booger flicker." Marcy turned to continue walking, but her feet landed in something. With a glance downwards, she saw her feet in a puddle of white stuff. "Eww. What is it?"

"That's my special wax." Marcy glanced at the new guy. She cringed away.

"I don't want to be stuck in anything that belongs to you, ugly." He made a small noise, looking offended. The wax then formed shackles around her ankles, before another glob formed shackles around her wrists. Marcy paused. "I don't like this." Her left hand disconnected from her body, falling to the ground. The shackle slide off of her wrist. With her right hand she grabbed her left off the ground and reconnected it. The process repeated for her right hand. "Now for my feet."

"So you're a devil fruit user too?' Marcy blinked, one foot disconnected from her leg. She made a small 'huh' sound. "No matter, you want be able to escape a full body trap." Her left foot was reconnected just in time for wax to cover her entire body in a big glob. Mr. Five carted her off to the rest of her friends and swore he could hear her screaming inside the wax glob.

Marcy screamed and attempted to thrash around inside her small wax prison. She felt herself be tossed to the ground. She roared in anger. She felt herself being picked up and moved again. She could hear someone shouting. More then just one person. She could hear two at the least. It sounded like her name was said. Panic began to bubble in her stomach. Even if Marcy was a doll, she didn't like small places. She hated being confined. She couldn't stand it. In a spur of the moment panic driven decision, Marcy gnashed her teeth together causing a small spark. With that spark she ignited the torrent of oil from her mouth. The flame burned and burned, melting through the wax directly in front of her face. With a disappointed sound, she ran out of oil to burn.

* * *

Nami, Zoro, and Vivi find themselves ankle deep in an ugly wax cake.

"There's something turning around over our heads." Nami observed.

"I feel like a candle on a cake." Zoro stated in almost a bored fashion. Vivi said nothing.

"I can't move my legs." Nami complained trying to wiggle her legs free.

"What kind of enemy would let us run around?"

"There's something coming down."

"How do you like my candle service? The candle mist that falls from above will make you into a candle doll soon! You will be one of the best of my art work! Candles that are filled with real souls! Just die for the sake of art!" Zoro blinked and looked down near his feet. Between him and Nami a circle of wax had begun to bubble, almost like it was melting.

"No way! Why do I have to die for your work!?" Nami turned to Broggy. "Mr. Broggy! Do something! Don't stay still, otherwise you'll become a candle, too!"

Just moments after Broggy's hands and feet were pierced with the wax swords, a column of fire broke through the wax between Nami and Zoro. The two leaned away as far as they could until the flames came to an end. There was a steaming hole left in the wax between them. Nami stayed as far away from it as she could, while Zoro leaned to peer into the hole.

"Zoro, what was that?" Nami whimpered looking at the hole in fright. After a moment, a smirk spread across Zoro's face. A small satin hand shot out of the hole, Nami screamed in fright, while Zoro grabbed the hand with his own. With his body twisted and bent in an awkward pose, he used whatever leverage he had and pulled the hand up. Slowly an arm followed, then a shoulder, followed by a head of black silk. Zoro tugged harder but to no avail. He released her hand and she wiggled about for a moment before her other arm was freed from the wax.

"It's no good. The wax solidified again." Marcy grumbled, before resting her chin on the wax before her.

"Marcy?" Nami blinked. "You were in there?" Marcy hummed in response. "Quick, before we turn into wax dolls, use whatever you did to make that hole, and get us out of here."

"Can't."

"AND WHY'S THAT?"

"I ran out making that hole. I don't carry much of that stuff with me anyway. I am flammable you know." Nami turned away defeated.

"How's she still alive?" Mr. Three, the wax weirdo demanded. "She was covered in wax for at least ten minutes. More then enough time for her to suffocate."

"Yeah, if she even breathed." Zoro stated before smirking down at her. "He put you in there cause you wouldn't shut up?" Marcy shrieked 'no' before punching him in the knee. Zoro grabbed a sheathed sword and brought it down on her head. Marcy whined at him.

"It must be because of her Devil fruit powers." Everyone sweat dropped.

"No, she's just a freak." Nami stated. Marcy pouted, mumbling about evil witches.

"It doesn't matter! I'll increase the speed of my candle service. So you all will become my Candle dolls soon!"

"That's like getting demoted for me. . ." Marcy punched Zoro in the knee again. He brought his sword down onto her head repeatedly.

"I can't breath." Nami coughed. Zoro said nothing, but kept tapping the end of his sheathed sword on Marcy's head. She growled scratched at him. "WHY ARE YOU TWO TAKING THIS SO LIGHTLY!?"

"Why are you taking this so seriously?" Marcy countered with a grin.

"WHY DON'T YOU JUST CRAWL BACK INTO YOUR HOLE!"

"I would if I could, but I can't cause I'm stuck." Zoro brought his sword down harder this time and Marcy let out a wail. "YOU MEANY! YOU MADE ME BITE MY TONGUE!" Zoro raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her, before tucking sword back with the other two.

"If this candle mist goes into our lungs, we will completely become candles." Marcy looked at Vivi, she had forgotten about the princess.

"Then don't breath." Marcy said like it was obvious.

"SHUT THE HELL UP! WE'RE HUMAN. WE NEED TO BREATH!" Marcy pouted and started grumbling. She began looking for a way to crawl back into her hole.

"Haha! That's right! I want you to suffer! Because the art that I want should present suffering and fear. Just become my candle with fear in your hearts!"

"A PIECE OF ART? THAT'S REALLY DISGUSTING! Also you did that to Mr. Broggy! You won't die in a good way for sure!"

"Haha! Just say whatever you want!"

"Zoro, do something!"

"HAHA! LOOK AT YOUR FACES! THAT'S A VERY GOOD EMOTION. SADNESS AND SUFFERING. SADNESS AND TORTURE! THIS WILL BECOME MY BEST PIECE OF ART!"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Marcy screamed, thrashing around, freeing a small bit more of her body. "JUST WAIT TILL WE GET FREE, THEN YOU'LL KNOW THE MEANING OF SUFFERING!"

"I can't move my arms! Don't we have a plan!?" Nami looked hopelessly at Marcy, who had her body from her breasts up freed from the wax and was still clawing and pulling.

"Our bodies are becoming harder." Vivi stated looking just as scared as Nami, but more in control.

"Hey! Can you still move?" Zoro, cooler then snow on a winter island, asked. "If you lose your arms and legs, it's better the dieing and doing nothing. I'll try to move too." Zoro drew two of his swords. "I'll cut both of my legs off. Don't you want to come and take care of those people with me?"

"CUT OFF YOUR LEGS! ARE YOU KIDDING? THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR A STUPID JOKE!"

"Because it's not time for a stupid joke, that's why I said that. What about you?" Marcy by this point had freed another few inches of her body. Satin flesh being pulled tight and tearing slightly along her back. Nami winced at the sight of the gel oozing from newly forming tears and stretching seams.

"WHAT ABOUT US? THAT'S WORTHLESS! IF YOU DO THAT THEY WILL BE ABLE TO CATCH YOU ANYWAY!"

"If you never tried, you'll never know. Anyway, we are going to die. Why don't we try our best? You don't want to die by those pieces of trash. Am I right?" Marcy looked up and grinned something almost crazy.

"Don't worry, Nami. We can always sew your feet back on afterwards anyway!" Marcy finished with a laugh.

"WE'RE HUMAN! THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!"

"Being human is starting to sound kind of lame. . ." Marcy grumbled before going back to working her own body free.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You are a very brave young man. I was about to give up. Okay. I'll do it!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING? IF YOU LOOSE BOTH OF YOUR LEGS, HOW CAN YOU FIGHT THEM?"

"Well, with just the hearts that never give up." Marcy looked at him with a blank face.

"How lame."

"Wha- Would you just shut up!" Marcy stuck her tongue out at him and Zoro contemplated stabbing her.

"WAI-WAIT A MINUTE. I'LL FIGHT WITH YOU TOO!"

"Okay."

"Vivi!"

"Hurray, for the princess! I'll make sure to sew your legs on very nicely okay?" That didn't make anyone feel any better about the whole thing.

"LET'S DO IT!"

"THIS IS CRAZY!" Zoro's swords went into motion, Marcy pulled with all her strength, and Broggy began pulling on his hand and feet. Luffy, Ussop, and Karu charged through the forest. Everyone stopped their attempt at freedom. And the three tripped. Dramatic entrance ruined, but at least they were there to save them. While they shouted about beating everyone up, Marcy looked down as she felt something warm and wet.

"HOLY WALNUTS!" Marcy moved as far away from Zoro's growing pool of blood. All of her body, but one leg from the hip down is free. She cringed as the blood began to run into the hole she had made. "I can feel it soaking into my skin." Tears ran down her face and she wiggled harder, trying to get away. "It's soo nasty."

"There's a lot of blood coming out of your legs." Marcy wrapped her arms around Nami's thighs (since she could reach her now) and whimpered.

"That's right. I cut off about half of my legs." Zoro looked at the whimpering Marcy. "What's wrong with you? Hey! You're almost out!"

"Your blood's touching me. It's nasty. Nasty~!"

"AND YOU SAY THAT WE'RE NOT IN TROUBLE."

"Make it stop." Marcy moaned. Zoro ignored her. There was nothing he could do about it, and besides, it's just a little bit of blood.

"Anyway. Can you destroy that pole, Luffy? I'll take care of the rest."

"Sure." Luffy grinned.

"I won't allow you to do that." Luffy and the weirdo began their little battle, while Marcy continued to try to wiggle away from the blood.

"What are you doing?" Nami demanded.

"In case we become candles, I'll have a nice pose."

"This is not the time for playing." Vivi pleaded.

"Can you do something with your legs? I feel pain whenever I look at them." Nami looked at the whimpering Marcy. "And Marcy's freaking out over your blood."

"Then don't look." Zoro glanced at Marcy. "Hey, can you stitch them for me?" Marcy frowned, but nodded. Slowly she shifted towards him. Cringing and whimpering when she was forced to seat her body in the pool of blood.

"By the way, your idea about cutting your legs and escaping was stupid." Marcy pulled the needle from behind her ear and a thread from her wrist.

"I cut my legs so I could fight them, not escape them." Zoro flinched in pain when Marcy began stitching his legs back together.

"That's even crazier!"

"Shut up!" Marcy's hands worked fast. Soon she was done with the first leg and had to stretch to reach his other leg. A slick sounding 'pop' echoed and Marcy froze. Her leg slide free of the wax. She ignored it for the moment to sew Zoro's other leg. Once that was done, she stood and just watched. It didn't look like there was anything for her to help with so she waited and waited. Mr. Three was sent flying, Luffy was caught in a trap, and Five and Valentine were chasing Ussop and Karu.

"Maybe I should help those two." She said to herself as she hopped down from her place on the cake.

"YOU COULD MOVE THIS WHOLE TIME!?" Nami shrieked, making the scary sharp toothed face. Marcy nodded in the affirmative before running off after Ussop and Karu. "DON'T RUN OFF! GET US OUT OF THIS THING!"

"I'm gunna help Ussop and Ducky! See you later!" Marcy vanished into the forest.

"Do you. . .think she'll be okay?" Nami asked.

"Of course. She'll do fine." Zoro said, not worried in the slightest.

"But, you heard Gama, she's never actually been in a serious fight."

"Doesn't matter. She'll have to fight sooner or later." Zoro smirked. "Besides, Luffy wanted her on his crew for a reason. She's strong. Have some faith."

A few moments later, Ussop riding on Karu followed by Five and Valentine came rushing past. A few yards behind them came Marcy, looking beyond annoyed.

"THIS IS JUST STUPID!" She shouted and turning around. "They're gunna make another loop around, so I'll just head for them!" Marcy rushed back into the forest in the direction she had come from.

* * *

After only a moment, Marcy caught sight of Ussop on Karu. She ran faster.

"MOVE!" Karu turned sharply, swerving around Marcy as she slide to a halt. Her hands grasped the nearest tree and she ripped it free from the ground.

"Double Mucus Bullet." Marcy swung the tree, hitting the boogers with it and letting them blow the tree to shreds. She stood her ground in front of the two. "No one can escape this gun. It's a .44 revolver that ca-" Marcy's satin fist slammed into Mr. Five's stomach with every once of her power.

"I don't care about your stupid gun." His body launched back off her hand. She rounded to grab Ms. Valentine, but the woman changed her weight and floated up into the air. Marcy threw her a grin. The needle like blades tore free from Marcy's wrists and she launched them up into the air at Ms. Valentine. They missed by an inch. Valentine began to laugh before the blades came back past her, wrapping themselves around her legs. "Doesn't matter how little you weigh. If I slam you into the ground, it'll still hurt." With a mighty tug, Marcy pulled Valentine towards the ground and with a hard snap of her wrists

Valentine went twisting towards the ground. Before Marcy could do anything else, an explosion came to life to her side. Her body flew through the trees with the force, skidding and rolling to a halt just free of the trees in the open area with her friends. Her satin flesh caught fire and burned. She thrashed in pain. Rolling around and throwing dirt on any burning portions of her body.

She didn't see Ussop get slammed with an explosion until it was too late. Marcy stood and moved to stand by Ussop, utterly pissed that more of her satin flesh was ruined.

"You okay?" She asked smiling at him. Ussop blinked before grinning.

"Of course. It'll take more then that to beat me." Marcy grabbed his hand and pulled him up. The wax weirdo decided to make his appearance again this time in incredibly stupid looking armor.

"Candle Champion!" Marcy was completely unimpressed.

"What's that?" Ussop fell back down after seeing the weirdo.

"That was used to kill a 42 million berri pirate." Marcy glared at the booger flicker.

"Mr. Three's best piece of art!"

"That's art?" Marcy grumbled confused. "Humans are so weird. . ."

"Ms. Golden Week, can you paint my candle champion. I want a cool color! I will crush that Straw-hat kid into pieces!" Marcy tuned the wax weirdo out in favor of gazing at her wax covered friends. She frowned. Maybe it would have been better if she stayed and helped them out of there. She turned in time to seeing the booger flicker fire his gun. She threw her body into Ussop's and they fell together. Marcy's left side catching fire while Ussop's right side got burned. Quickly she put the flames out and stood up. Ussop handed a rope to Karu, he had a plan. Marcy grinned.

"What are you planning to do? Can you tell me?" Marcy threw a punch at Valentine, but she dodged. Booger flicker fired another bullet at Marcy and she took it head on. Holding her ground, even as her flesh caught fire. When the smoke cleared, she threw herself at Valentine who was sitting on Ussop. The two stopped sliding across the ground. Marcy pulled the other woman up by her collar. Satin flesh singed and smoldered as she pulled her fist back. A grin pulled painted pink lips up. With all her might, Marcy's fist slammed into the woman's chin, shooting her high into the air.

The cake behind Marcy went up in flames.

Before Ms. Valentine could fall to the ground or get her baring, Nami and Vivi attacked her. She slammed motionlessly into the ground. Marcy stared at them confused. How did Nami loose her entire shirt, while Vivi's clothes only got somewhat burnt? Nami caught sight of Marcy and gawked.

"What happened to you?!" She demanded.

"I told you I was flammable."

* * *

Marcy sat as far away from the sobbing giant as she could. She was already burnt, she didn't need to waterlogged too. It was bad enough that she had blood stains on her leg from Zoro. She wasn't even sure she could scrub those out or if she was going to be forced to replace that area of satin flesh entirely.

"He's crying too loud." Nami whined.

"His tears look like a waterfall." Zoro stated.

"Look at the rainbow behind that!" Luffy shouted and pointed.

"Quack!" No one knows what Karu said.

"My ears are going to explode." Vivi stated.

"I completely understand Mr. Broggy's feelings!" Ussop shouted with tears running down his face. Nami turned to Marcy, who was casually scraping off patches of seared satin.

"Aren't you bothered by his crying?" Marcy looked up for a moment. She blinked twice before responding.

"Not really no." Marcy went back to scraping at her skin. "If it bothers you that much, turn your hearing off. That's what I'm doing." Nami snarled at her.

"FOR THE LAST TIME! HUMAN'S CAN'T DO THAT KIND OF THING!" Marcy looked up at her again.

"What?" Nami screamed and gave up. "AAAAAHHH!" Marcy screamed, pointing while her eyes went so wide that one, having been knocked loose from the fight, popped out. Dorry had sat up. Apparently, he had survived the attack. Marcy nearly panicked, she was told the other giant was dead. "DAMN IT MY GOOD EYE!"

* * *

**EXTRA EPISODE!**

**How to Show You Love Someone: Advice from Papa Sanji.**

Marcy sat in the galley, staring thoughtfully out the window while Sanji cleaned the dishes from lunch. He had been chatting happily with his precious daughter, but she made no attempt to hold up her end of the conversation. Normally, she was talkative, excited to hear tales from Sanji's days on the Baratie or of the adventures her new found family had had before she joined them. Today, though, today was different. She was quiet, unsmiling. All she did was stare out the window with her brows scrunched and nose crinkled, frowning.

"Is something wrong?" Sanji questioned after a moment of silence. He was concerned. Marcy looking this concentrated when she wasn't stitching was as rare and frightening as Luffy denying meat. Her face slowly turned to gaze at him. She blinked twice before looking down at the table. Thoughtful and almost embarrassed. "Marcy," Sanji took more of a fatherly tone with her now. "no matter what it is you can tell me." Her eyebrows came closer together, her eyes narrowed, and her mouth puckered in a sort of pout. Sanji danced on the inside at the cute image.

"It's just. . . Well I. . ."

"What is it? I promise to listen."

"Okay, well. . . Let's say a woman loves some one." Sanji nodded, suddenly even more curious. "How would she show them that she loved them?" Sanji's eyes went sparkly as he imagined hundreds of scenarios with Nami confessing her love to him. He settled on the simplest (and least perverted) of them to share with his precious daughter.

"She would run to him, throw her arms around him and confess her love!" Sanji hugged himself, doing a little wiggle dance while his eyes turned to hearts. "Then once that was done, she kiss him!" He pressed his hands to his cheeks and danced around the room. Marcy stared thoughtfully at him.

"Is that really what women do when they love someone?" Sanji was too lost in his fantasies to hear her, but she took his current behavior as a 'yes'. With that, Marcy stood and left the kitchen. Nami was just a few steps away, leaning against the railing. Marcy wondered if women showed their love to each other in a different way or if it was the same. She decided that since Sanji hadn't said any specifics then it was the same.

"NAMI!" When Nami turned to her, Marcy threw herself at the poor Navigator. With arms wrapped around the girl's shoulders she grinned. Nami looked startled and almost frightened. "I love you!" And then she kissed Nami on the mouth before dancing off to find someone else. Nami said nothing, she just stood there twitching and confused.

"USSOP!" The sniper jumped, before looking over his shoulder at the doll, who grinned happily.

"Yeah, what is it-" He was cut off by painted satin lips covering his own. His face turned blood red and his eyes went wide.

"I love you!" Marcy released him and danced off to find her next target. Ussop stared after her, face pink, eyes wide, mouth gaping, and body frozen.

"ZORO!" Said swordsman was startled from his nap by Marcy's shout. He felt the wind leave him as she sat down on his stomach.

"What the hell do you want? Get off of me!" He struggled under her for a moment.

"No! I love you!" Zoro froze, eyes going wide as he tried to cringe backwards. He began thrashing around harder. Marcy growled in annoyance, before slamming her mouth against his with enough force to leave a bruise. Zoro ceased all movement and laid there with a grimace on his face. He now felt dirty, like an old pervert or something.

"THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY DAUGHTER ,YOU BASTARD!?" Sanji roared as he advanced on the frozen swordsman. Marcy leapt up with a grin, before blinking. Everyone was gathered together. Nami looked at Marcy cautiously, Ussop's face was bright red and looked nervous. Sanji was screaming at Zoro who screamed back (even though he was blushing). Then there was Luffy, who stood laughing at the whole situation.

"LUFFY!" Marcy charged at him, grabbing hold of him with a smile.

"Hmm? What is it, Marcy?"

"I love you!" Everyone froze as she kissed him. She pulled away and grinned up at him. He blinked down at her.

"What was that for?"

"Papa Sanji told me that I'm supposed to kiss the people I love and since you're all my friends, I love you! So I'm giving everyone kisses!"

"That makes sense!" Luffy exclaimed before looking around at everyone. "Does that mean I have to kiss you guys too, cause I don't really wanna. . ." Luffy looked slightly disturbed. And everyone screamed no at him. They didn't want another person attacking them with love. Nami rounded on Sanji.

"So, it's your fault she's acting like that." Sanji laughed and moved back slightly.

"My dearest Nami, I had no idea that's why she was asking me! If I had known I never would have told her that! Why would I want my precious daughter to kiss a bunch of mongrels like them when she didn't even give me a kiss."

"What kind of father wants to kiss their daughter?" Ussop grumbled. "Pervert."

"I don't think you should be allowed to be her father anymore." Zoro stated, happy to have another reason to make fun of the cook.

"And what do you mean by mongrels?" Nami snarled looking at Sanji. "She kissed me too!" Sanji froze dramatically. " I was the first one, actually." He fell to the ground as the color drained from his body.

"My precious daughter's first kiss. . . Given to another woman. . . Even if it was a woman of such ravishing beauty. . . My precious daughter, tainted by a woman. But Nami is a pure swan, she can't taint anyone, but my daughter and Nami. . . It's forbidden. . . Nooo." Poor Sanji looked like he was about to disintegrate.

"Anyway, Marcy, you can't go around kissing people like that." Ussop said, his blush now gone.

"Why not?" She dead panned.

"Well, because it's inappropriate. You only kiss the person you love."

"But you're all my friends and I love you. So I can kiss you guys."

"No, no, no. Not that kind of love." Ussop scratched the back of his head. "I mean the romantic type."

"There are different types?"

"Yeah. . . Uhh. Nami, why don't you give it a try?' Nami nodded.

"There's romantic type of love and then there's a friendship type of love." Marcy nodded. "Friendship or family love is what you feel for us. It's where you trust someone with your life and you have fun with them. Romantic type of love is the one where you can kiss people. It's where you never want the person to leave you and want to be with them forever and maybe have a family with them. Understand?"

"No." Everyone felt sweat run down their face. "I'm a doll so I can't have babies. And I don't see a difference between the two, so I'm just going to kiss the people I love." Sanji turned to dust and a breeze carried him off.

"But. . .you. . .NO!" Nami shouted and sputtered.

"Relax, Nami, just let her do whatever she wants. This is pointless anyway."

"B-but. ."

"Don't worry Nami, I won't kiss you anymore cause you don't like it and it makes Papa Sanji turn to dust!" Marcy grinned. Nami sighed in relief.

"No more for me either." Marcy looked at Ussop with a pout. "Sorry, I like you and all, but as like a sister. It was just weird."

"Fine. Let me guess, Luffy, doesn't want me to kiss him either?"

"I don't care!" Luffy laughed. "I don't see the big deal about it, do what ever you want!" Marcy gave Luffy a kiss on the cheek, who just laughed and patted her on the head. Marcy turned to stare at Zoro.

"See, Nami? Everything's fine now." Nami nodded with a sigh. Zoro 'gak'ed as Marcy pounced on him. "Get off of me!"

"KISSIES FOR ZORO!" Marcy shouted as she tried to kiss Zoro. Sanji reformed from dust and pulled Marcy off of Zoro.

"NO MORE KISSING ANYONE!" Marcy went teary-eyed as she looked at Sanji. Sanji felt his will shatter. "F-fine. . . BUT NOT ON THE MOUTH!" Marcy shouted in joy before attacking Zoro again. " AND NOT THE SHITTY SWORDSMAN EITHER!"


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11! ONWARD!**

**P.s. I'm going in for surgery soon so I'll try to update once more before I actually get the surgery.**

* * *

Chapter 11

"Marcy?" At the faint croaking of her name, the doll lowered the fragile silk dress she was carefully stitching and gazed intently at the figure tucked in bed.

"Yes, Nami?" Marcy replied with a quiet voice. It had gone without question that Marcy would remain by Nami's side all day and take watch at night. It wasn't that no one wanted to be with Nami, in fact they all came in through out the day to visit, it was just simply that Marcy could easily remain stationary for long periods, continue her work, and watch Nami. Since the moment Nami had collapsed, Marcy hadn't left her side while the sun shone.

"Tell me. . .Tell me something, Please?" Marcy folded the silk up and placed it on the table next to her. She had been behaving unusually adult like since Nami fell ill.

"Like what?"

"Anything. Something from your childhood. Tell me a story please."

"Vivi will scold me if I keep you awake with a story."

"Please, I don't want to go back to sleep just yet." Marcy 'hmm'ed in thought for a moment.

"Okay, one story, but then you better go back to sleep." Nami smiled, though it seemed more weary then happy.

* * *

_Marcy glared at the man sitting before her. A small baby was cradled in her arms, pulling her hair and drooling on her. The man laughed. His bright blue eyes hidden by skin pushed upward from his wide grin. His shoulder length golden brown hair was pulled tightly into a ponytail at the base of his neck, though a few rebellious strands danced around his face. His skin was the color of caramel and if it were not for the wrinkles his wide smile created, his skin would have looked youthful and smooth. He was a tall man, towering over everyone present in the room by nearly a foot. His body was as slender as he was tall. Long limbs that were covered with a layer of muscles that were stretched and thin as well. He was gangly, with fingers long and thin like they were merely bones. He did not look unhealthy though. His peculiar, slender form looked natural. His grin and his laughter died down after a moment. Eyes made of glowing blue, danced with mirth as he gazed at the glaring doll._

"_I think it's a splendid idea, Godric!" The slender man with glowing blue eyes announced in a booming melodic voice that was rather bizarre with it's intense volume yet sing song like intones._

"_Glad you agree, Ryuuden!" The other man in the room, smiled peacefully. This man was shorter, thicker, more mature in appearance. His hair was short and tangerine colored. His eyes were a serene cloudy sky gray, while his skin was more of a peach color. He had thick muscles covered in skin that had scars and calluses scattered about. His voice was soft and gravely. Marcy glared violently at this man, Godric, before turning her gaze back on the lanky man, Ryuuden, her father. The baby in Marcy's arms began to wriggle and whine._

"_Come now boys, don't taunt Marcy so." A slight woman with hair far too fluffy and large for her body said as she pulled the cranky baby from Marcy's arms. "She is so young, only twelve now, far to young to receive boy related torment from her father and god father." The woman had a regal tone to her voice and an air of a queen. Godric had returned from his trip with this woman on his arm and that baby in her womb. They claimed to have been wed on her home land, but no one knew where she was from. She was a bizarre beauty. Her violet colored hair was long and fluffy, not curly or frizzy, but fluffy like a sheep and soft as cotton tumbling down to her lower back. Her body was tiny, slender with sharp features and curves that were not exagerated or large. Her eyes where what caught the most attention though. They were pure liquid gold in color, bright and rich. They danced with emotion and the color appeared to roll like waves around her pupils._

"_Don't be so serious, Marishka! As a farther with a daughter it's my duty to ensure that a proper man will care for her." Ryuuden's voice boomed at the slight woman. He waved his hand dismissively at her. "Besides, you're a woman with a son, you wouldn't understand." Golden eyes narrowed and the woman named Marishka handed the now giggling baby to Godric. From her long sleeve she pulled a long needle like blade and threw it at Ryuuden. He let out a laugh as he ducked out of the way._

"_You are just a foolish man who is far too protective over his daughter. Besides, my son will not marry your child. He shall marry a charming young noble woman!" Ryuuden stiffened and glared at Marishka. Blue eyes glowed brighter as lips pressed tightly together._

"_My Marcy is just as charming as any young noble woman." Marcy tilted her head and smiled nervously. Marishka and Godric had been back on the island for seven months now(Marishka having been about five months pregnant when she arrived) and everyday Marcy had witnessed her father and Marishka engage in epic duels over nothing. Godric sighed as he moved himself from their line of fire and to a seat next to Marcy. He rocked his child gently._

"_That is a foolish thing to say. Marcy is nothing like a lady. She is a child, and a vacant minded one at that." Marcy hung her head in despair, though she could not disagree with Marishka. Godric patted her back in comfort._

"_Shut your mouth, you deranged ball of cotton! Marcy is a beautiful lady more perfect then those noble women! Her skin is satin and her hair is silk! How many of those snot nosed women can honestly say that?"_

"_None. Because they are human and not poorly crafted toys." Marishka turned her face defiantly from Ryuuden. Tears ran down Marcy's face. Why was she being attacked along with her father? She'd yet to do anything to upset the foreign woman. It was all her father's doing this time._

"_I'll kill you!" The two engaged in an unnecessarily vicious fight. Marcy and Godric sighed in unison. Godric sighed because he knew he'd be the one to pay for the damage done to the village and his home. Marcy sighed because she would be feeling Marishka's rath in her next lesson with the woman and Marcy was going to have to drag her father to the doctor's again. She hated the doctor, he liked to examine her like some bizarre animal._

"_Honestly, Godric, you were kidding about me marrying Gama, right?" Godric smiled as they both gazed at the giggling baby._

"_Do you hear that, Young one? Marcy does not wish to be your love." The baby paused for a moment, his large eyes blinking before his tiny hands reached for Marcy. Godric smiled brightly. "Seems my child still desires you, though." Marcy snorted at him. "In all seriousness, Doll, care for Gama and Marishka while your father and I are gone. I know my darling wife has been teaching you her way of fighting and there is no one I trust more then you to care for them." Marcy gazed into serene eyes with pastel green ones. She nodded once. A loud crash sounded from outside shortly followed by Marishka waltzing back into the house and snatching up her child with a twirl. The woman barely had a single scratch on her, even her clothes remained nearly pristine._

"_Marcy, do me a favor and drag your father to the doctor. I fear that I may have beaten him quiet harshly." Marishka danced from the room with the baby Gama._

"_I pray Gama never becomes like his mother." Marcy nodded her agreement. "You should probably help Ryuuden." Marcy nodded again before walking off to find her father. Moments later she found him. Sitting there pouting like a child. His long legs crossed before him and his hands on his knees, head lowered. Ryuuden grumbled under his breath about evil cotton balls. Marcy shook her head at him._

"_Father, we should take you to the doctor." He turned his head slightly. Blinking a glowing blue eye at her. Marcy noted that a stream of blood was rolling down his face and dripping to the ground. The fingers on his right hand also appeared to bent at bizarre angles. A moment passed before he threw himself at Marcy. His excessively long arms coiling around her legs as he began sobbing._

"_Forgive your Papa for failing to punish that woman!"_

"_It's alright, Father."_

"_IT IS NOT! THAT VILE DEMENTED COTTON BALL SLANDERED YOUR NAME AND PAPA COULD NOT RESTORE YOUR HONOR!" Marcy looked away, embarrassed. "PAPA IS AN EMBARRASSMENT!"_

"_You got that right." Marcy mumbled under her breath._

"_I KNEW IT!" Ryuuden released his daughter's legs and leapt to his feet. Tears streamed down his face and snot oozed from his nose. "MY DAUGHTER CAN NOT STAND THE SIGHT OF ME! I MUST RID HER OF THIS BURDEN!" Marcy's eyes began to twitch._

"_Father, calm down. You're being psychotic again." Ryuuden crumpled to the ground again. "Uh, Father? Are you alright?" He shook his head as a dark cloud of misery began forming over him. "Father, I don't know how to handle you when you're like this, so I'm just going to walk away. See you later." Ryuuden let out a loud wail._

"_MY DAUGHTER CAN'T STAND TO BE IN MY COMPANY EITHER!" Marcy kept walking. She hadn't met very many humans, but she was positive that they all didn't act even remotely like this. Or maybe this was just how parents behaved towards their children. Marishka did it with baby Gama often, though Godric never behaved this way. It was then that Ryuuden sprinted past her with long fast strides. He was heading for the cliff._

"_Father, what are you doing now?"_

"_I MUST THROW MYSELF INTO THE OCEAN FOR BEING A FAILURE OF A FATHER!"_

"_Oh. Okay." Marcy kept walking at a calm pace. "WAIT! WHAT!?" With thundering steps Marcy charged up the path after her father. She reached the cliff just in time to watch her father swan dive off. Marcy followed suit. Both plummeted into the water below._

_Several moments later Godric stood in a small fishing boat, hauling up a large net. Out of the net fell both Marcy and Ryuuden. Godric shook his head at his closest friend and god child. It was a wonder that this deranged man was a master beyond compare capable of creating things more complex then anything else of this time. It was even more puzzling that this doll sprawled at the bottom of his boat was really anything amazing. Godric smiled at the two. He could clearly see that this doll would be great, it was obvious. How could a doll capable of walking, talking, and thinking not be great in some way?_

* * *

Nami smiled as Marcy finished her small story. Then a thought struck her.

"That baby in your story, that was the old man from your village." Marcy nodded with a crooked grin.

"He looks the same now as he did then when he was a baby." Nami shuddered, must have been one ugly baby.

"What happened to them? Marishka and Godric, I mean." Nami panted slightly, her eye lids tugging downwards. She desperately wanted to remain awake. She'd done nothing but sleep for the past day and it had begun to bother her.

"My story was from 89 years ago. They were supposed to go on their voyage for the stone to my heart that year, but it was delayed by about twenty years. Godric went with my father. I assume he died by my father's side. If not then he would have hunted down the man who killed my father and wouldn't have stopped until he or that man were dead. Since the report said that Father died and nothing about Godric, Marishka left to find out what happened. I'm not sure if anything was ever heard from her." Nami's eyes slowly slide shut. Marcy smiled at the now asleep Nami. "I've got this feeling that I can't get rid of. I feel like I'll be seeing her again soon." Marcy grinned like a fool as she continued with her sewing.

Night came and slowly everyone trickled down into the girl's room. Marcy fled the room to start her watch. Wishing everyone good night as they chose various places on the floor to sleep. Marcy carefully climbed up to the crow's nest and sat. Two hours passed before Marcy moved from that spot. She moved to lean over the edge of the crow's nest.

"Hello, Merry." Marcy's voice was barely a whisper, easily stolen by the wind. "The weather is getting colder. From what Vivi's told me, that means we're approaching a winter island. Do you like the snow Merry?" The ship creaked ever so lightly with the waves and wind. Marcy grinned brightly. "Ah, well, I don't particularly like snow, but I like watching Luffy and Ussop play in it!" Silence reigned again. Marcy smiled blissfully. She smiled in a way one would when talking to an old friend. "Yeah, That's the best!" She laughed, though soon her smile slipped to something more serene and contemplative. "I don't know if the others will ever be able to hear you. Maybe one day, but until then, I guess it'll just be you and me talking at night! . . . Huh? What? That's not very funny. Jeez Merry, you're mean. . . I don't think I wanna talk to you anymore now." With a huff and a pout Marcy flopped back into the crow's nest. The mast groaned slightly. "Sorry. Sorry." She continued talking with Merry until the sun rose. Snow began to fall just before Zoro emerged from below deck. He looked up into the sky as snow fell around him, frowning.

"Good Morning, Zoro!" Marcy called as she scurried down the mast and over to the swordsman. She gazed at him as he frowned up into the sky. "Uh, What's wrong?"

"It's cold."

"Yes. Yes it is." When Zoro pulls his gaze from the sky to look at Marcy, he feels sweat run down his face. She was buttoning the final button of a raspberry colored ankle length winter coat. She had violet colored gloves, scarf, and knit cap on her body as well. Her feet were covered with knee high, fur lined black boats. He blinked at her and she blinked back. "What?"

"When did you? How did you?"

"A minute ago. . . I put them on like a normal person. Do you need me to show you?" Zoro glared at her before heading for the guys room, grumbling about finding his coat. "You won't find It. I used it for scrape to make a better one." Marcy turned and made her way into the girl's room. Zoro followed, shivering. Once inside the room, they found Sanji and Vivi pulling on coats, gloves and scarves. Vivi saw them first.

"Good morning Mr. Bushido, Marcy." She finished wrapping her scarf around her neck. "Thank you for making these, Marcy. You really are a great seamstress." Vivi blinked confused as she was met with the sight of Marcy's back. The doll seemingly was ignoring her as she all but forced a protesting Zoro into a coat. Vivi turned to Sanji. "Did I. . .offend her?"

"Of course not. Marcy's just a bit shy." In that moment, Zoro began yelling at Marcy. Instead of yelling back, Marcy grabbed hold of Zoro's hood and sewed it shut over his head. She fled the room just moments before Zoro tore the hood off and rushed out after her. Sanji trampled Ussop and Luffy in his hurry to chase down Zoro for threatening his daughter.

Marcy had been sitting there for hours, calmly sewing away at the same beautiful silk dress from the day before. The doll had not moved, spoken, blinked or even breathed since she began working on that dress. For a moment Vivi was almost worried that the doll had died. Then she remembered that Marcy was a doll and couldn't simply die, so she thought Marcy's heart had burned out. Vivi had been about to tell Ussop when she noticed movement. The only movement Marcy was making. Her fingers were moving rapidly in tiny motions. Looping a needle rapidly through flowing silk, though it seemed to take nearly a minute for half an inch's worth of seam to be closed. The stitches were so small they were barely visible, so close they were touching forming one complete thin line. The doll was more then focused, she had come to the conclusion that this dress would be her master piece, her crowning achievement, the single garment she would be known for. This is why she had blocked out the world, except for Nami, of course. She had kept her awareness on Nami, while she worked. Marcy had to, she was the one who was always by her side. This intent focus was the reason Marcy didn't notice the ship shaking, didn't notice Sanji rush up the stairs, didn't notice that she'd begun sewing the satin flesh of her side into the seam. Marcy just kept sewing as robotically as she had been.

"Uhh, Marcy?" Vivi attempted to gain the doll's attention. She was moderately worried and nearly positive the doll was broken in the very least. No one, not even a doll, should be so focused or unfocused that they don't notice when they've sewn their own flesh to a garment. Vivi was answered by only silence. She left her position beside Nami and moved to kneel in front of Marcy. "Marcy?" Vivi reached a hand forward, pushing deep black silk strands behind a satin ear. She lowered her hand and grasped a satin wrist. The doll's motions froze and pastel eyes bore into her own. "Marcy?"

"Wha?" The doll's response was sleepy, unfocused. Vivi forced a bit of a nervous smile.

"Look." Vivi grasped the silken material in her hand and gave a gentle pull, watching as satin flesh pulled with it. Marcy's reaction, to say the least, was delayed. The doll had sat there blinking for a few moments before her face distorted. Her teeth clenched while her lips pulled wide apart in an exaggerated grimace. Her eyes went wider then normal and her brow creased. Vivi had only a moment to admire the doll's new expression, before said doll threw herself out of the chair and rushed up the stairs.

"PAPA SANJI! I NEED HELLLLLLLPPP!" Marcy screeched just before she burst through the door to the deck. "PAPA SANJI I-" She was cut off by a bullet tearing through her unfinished master piece and lodging into her marble spine. Her face darkened. Ussop swallowed thickly, peeking at her from behind the mast. Zoro spared her a single glance, curious about her reaction. Sanji moved to slam his foot into the man who dared harm his precious daughter. The shooter was sent flying courtesy of a round house kick delivered by a dainty satin foot connected to an angered doll. A crazed grin was given by Marcy before everyone began fighting again. Marcy tore her now ruined master piece from her body, consequently creating a tear in her own satin flesh. She took to delivering paralyzing blows before throwing her opponent over board. They flew far and hit the water with a painful force. One poor man was grabbed by his mustache and thrown. Marcy calmed down when there was no one left standing, Luffy was being gnawed on, and Vivi was bursting through the door.

Upon fully realizing that Luffy had become a rather obese and exceptionally ugly man's meal, Marcy frowned. She turned to Ussop.

"Is that normal?" He blinked at her confused.

"Is what normal?"

"For people to eat other people."

"Depending on where you are it is." Ussop swallowed thickly at the curious glint in Marcy's eye. "But it's not normal pretty much everywhere and it's a crime. So don't do it."

"But I'm a pirate and pirates don't care about the rules."

"Well that's true, but. . . .but you just shouldn't try that okay?" Marcy grinned at Ussop and he noted just how sharp and shiny Marcy's teeth actually were.

"Why not?" Marcy leaned in closer to Ussop. He pulled backwards, sweating profusely. "Hey Ussop?"

"Y-yeah?" He swallowed hard.

"The fat man just went flying." Marcy said blankly pointing to Luffy and the now broken railing on the side of Merry. Ussop rushed away to assess the damage. Marcy shrugged with a smile before sticking a finger into the bullet hole in her stomach. She pulled her finger out before sticking it back in the hole and wiggling her finger around.

"Would you stop that!" Zoro scolded the doll, eyeing her with a moderate amount of disgust. He understood and accepted that her wounds meant very little since she couldn't actually die from them, but did she have to play with them?

"Stop what?" Marcy asked as she began trying to push a second and third finger through the oozing hole in her stomach. Zoro slammed his fist into the doll's head before dragging her into the ship by the wrist of the hand that was pestering the hole. He grumbled about idiots and babysitters or something close to that, Marcy wasn't sure, she wasn't really even listening.

* * *

While Ussop did crappy repairs to Merry and Vivi explained about the different islands, Marcy was doing something particularly unusual. She sat cross legged in front of the mast, eyes closed and fists pressed firmly together in front of her chest. At undetermined intervals, her body would tense and either by magic or trick of light, she appeared to be entirely human with flesh that looked less satin and the lines of stitches and patches would appear to melt into the rest of the flesh, looking more like oddly colored scars. This effect lasted barely a few seconds before she returned to normal. Ussop and Sanji kept throwing curious and concerned glances in her direction. Each had passed close to her and felt a sudden ripple of power. As well, they heard a chime sound in the pattern of a heart beat for just a moment, but they each dismissed it. Neither of them commented, though Ussop looked rather disturbed. Zoro who was sleeping just a few feet away paid it no mind. He had stumbled upon the doll doing the same thing several times. Though it was always at night where no one was likely to see. He toyed with the idea of asking her what she was doing, but decided that if she had been trying to keep it more of a secret then he should just leave it be. Zoro gave up his attempt at sleep (the constant bursts of uncontrolled energy from the doll were getting annoying) and headed into the girls room to check on Luffy and Nami. Marcy continued on for hours only breaking her pattern when Sanji's voice rang out.

"I see an island." Pastel eyes glanced from the blonde to the island in the distance. Moments later, Luffy latched himself to his special seat.

"WOW! An island! It's so white. That must be snow! So, it's a snow island!" Whilst Luffy rambled, Marcy stood and stretched as if her joints were stiff and looked around her. Sanji began lecturing Luffy on why they were there and Ussop began to state that he didn't want to go. Marcy placed a hand over her chest and grumbled.

"I over did it that time." She remained where she was and began opening her coat, then her shirt. She unlaced the silk ribbon and unlatched her ribcage. Her satin hand dug around inside her chest and pulled out her humming heart. Fingers deftly opened the heart and pastel eyes indifferently watched the diamond crumble to dust. "Oh, poop." She turned to Ussop. "Ussop . . . Ussop. . . M-my. . . Ussop my Heart. . . .heart needs. . . ." Her warped voice slowed to a halt and she froze. Sanji and Ussop rushed to her side.

"MY DAUGHTER!" Sanji howled. "DON'T WORRY PAPA'S HERE! HE'LL HOLD YOU UNTIL YOU'RE ALL BETTER!" Sanji rubbed his cheek against Marcy's head as his arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Alright then. You do that while I go find another diamond for her." Ussop mumbled walking off calmly.

"Hurry up! My poor daughter must be miserable in such a state!" Sanji caressed Marcy's cheek. Vivi reeled back a bit in confusion and moderate disgust. She'd yet to witness this happening. "Don't worry Marcy, Papa will make you all better again."

"WHAT MARCY'S SICK TOO?!" Luffy rushed over, panicking. He blinked confused and stared at Marcy. "She doesn't look sick?" A swift kick was delivered to his skull.

"She's not sick, dumb ass." Sanji curled his arms around her shoulders again and tears ran down his cheeks. "Her heart stopped, again."

"Oh." Luffy looked bored. "That's all. I thought she'd caught what Nami has or something."

"DON'T BE SO CASUAL ABOUT IT!" Sanji shrieked. "Just because it happens on a regular basis doesn't mean it's not serious. Who knows what kind of agony she could be in right now?" Luffy's eyes went wide.

"Does hugging her like this help?" Luffy asked with tears running down his cheeks as he attached himself to Marcy's other side in the same way as Sanji. Sanji nodded rapidly.

Ussop reappeared on deck and felt sweat run down his face at the sight before him. Vivi looked at him with concerned eyes.

"Is this normal? Is Marcy alright?" Ussop sighed and nodded.

"Marcy's heart can use diamonds and other gems to power it, but they can't handle the power the heart pumps out so they disintegrate after a while and her heart doesn't run at full capacity with them either. This is normal, including those two freaking out."

"But, is she in pain?" Ussop smiled.

"Nope. She says it's like fainting. The world's dark and she can barely sense a few things, but there's no pain. She can't feel anything." He moved forward casually and carefully took the heart from a still satin hand. The dust was poured out and a new gem was slide in place. As Ussop went to slide the heart back into Marcy's chest, Sanji kicked him hard enough to send him rolling across the deck. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"FOR TRYING TO VIOLATE MARCY'S BODY!"

"I WAS PUTTING HER HEART BACK!"

"I DON'T CARE! NO MAN IS ALLOWED TO PLACE HIS HANDS UPON OR IN MARCY'S BODY!"

"THEN WHY HAVEN'T YOU KICKED LUFFY!?" Sanji blinked before turning to look at Luffy who was cuddling Marcy. Sanji's face fell rapidly.

"Luffy. . ." Said boy 'hmm'ed and looked at Sanji only to receive a foot to the face. Luffy skidded to a halt next to Ussop. "STOP TOUCHING MY DAUGHTER!"

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO PUT MARCY'S HEART BACK IF I CAN'T TOUCH HER!"

"AS HER FATHER I AM PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF DOING IT!" Sanji grasped her heart and stared intently at the gap in her chest. Her breasts where covered, nothing was revealed, but he couldn't do it. Sanji turned away with his face shadowed. "I can't do it. She may be my daughter, but she is still a woman. As a gentleman and as her father, I can not violate her in such a way! It would be a sin deserving of the most severe punishment if I so willingly-"

"Like this?" Vivi questioned Ussop as he directed her in putting Marcy's heart back in. Sanji halted his speech and turned to watch.

"Yeah. Make sure this side is facing front and you should hear a small click when her heart's in the right place." Vivi nodded before plunging her hand holding the heart into Marcy's open chest. She shuddered at the feeling of the cool gel inside the doll's body as it slide across her hand. A small click echoed and Ussop nodded. "Now just push here and shut her ribs. Good. Now close the latch. No, just push that part down. Right, then lace the ribbon back up. Great. Uhh. Well, close her shirt and jacket and that's it." Vivi zipped the jacket closed just in time for Marcy's eyes to flutter closed and her body to collapse.

"I'm sorry!" Vivi shrieked, assuming she had done something wrong. Ussop waved her off.

"No, that's normal too."

* * *

The bizarre world Marcy had entered, halted and disappeared. Pastel eyes snapped open and gazed around the girl's room. She wondered briefly if the fact that she found herself in the bed that that meant Nami was being treated at a doctor's house or something. Marcy thought back to the world of oddities she had just been in. Had she been dreaming? That would be a first. The other times had been nothing more then her mind connecting the dots, organizing itself, but this had been complete fantasy and nonsense. She grinned brightly. If she was having dreams, did that mean she was closer to be human? With a hum and a skip, the doll strode out onto the deck only to halt. There was no one out there. The only thing she could find, was Zoro's jacket fluttering in the breeze. Suddenly, Marcy was very annoyed.

"Can you believe them, Merry!?" She stamped a foot down, a pout crossing her face. "Those butt monkeys left me here unconscious so they could explore the island! They didn't even leave someone to watch you or me!" Marcy was to peeved to hear the Merry's quiet response. "Well, screw them! Screw them with rusty screw drivers! Imma explore too!" Marcy leapt from the deck and onto shore. "See ya later, Merry!" She rushed off at full speed, not once even noticing the Karu popsicle in the water beside the Merry. She ran for a while, pausing to gaze at the snow covered scenery. "Where should I go?" She grumbled. Looking around curiously, she spotted a very tall mountain. "I'LL GO THERE!" With that proclamation, Marcy charged forward, a happy grin on her face. She ran and ran. The snow covered world around her blurring together into dancing white swirls and twists. Marcy laughed and ran faster. The cold bite at her skin, frost began to build on her cheeks, ears, and nose. She kept running, happy and free, enjoying the beautiful chilled existence around her. She paused once to spin happily among tall pin trees. She stopped again to do a small swaying dance in an open field of snow. The final time she paused was to stare up the side of the mountain that stood directly in front of her. With her grin just as large as before, she produced a needle like blade from each hand and scaled the side of the mountain like a spider on drugs. In only a few moments, she reached the top. Her jaw dropped and eyes went huge. "A castle. . . . AWESOME!" She tore forward through the door and stopped once inside. "HELLO! SNOW PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THIS CASTEL! I'M MARCY! CAN YOU HELP ME?" Her voice echoed slightly through the chilled air.

"G-go away." A tiny voice commanded. Marcy raised her eyes to star at the railing above her. A tiny animal like figure had half of it's face hide behind the railing as it stared down at her.

"I don't want to." The creature's jaw dropped. "I need help."

"Why should I help you, stupid human!?" Marcy blinked stupidly at the creature.

"Because I would appreciate it?"

"I don't care what you want, human! Now go away!"

"NO! And stop calling me human! I'm a doll, damn it." The creature peeked entirely out from behind the railing.

"A doll?"

"Yup. Made of fabric and stone." The creature stared at her intently for a moment.

"GYAAAAAH! A POSSESSED DOLL!" The creature took off running and Marcy charged after it.

"WAIT!"

"NO! YOU'RE GOING TO CURSE ME, I KNOW IT!"

"WHY WOULD I DO THAT?!" Marcy lunged at the creature, easily capturing it in her arms. "Stop wriggling! I just want you to help me!" The little thing continued to wriggle and scream in Marcy's arms, but she refused to let it go. "If you keep struggling I will curse you!" The thing fell limp in her arms, tears running down it's face just as a battle axe lodged in the wall in front of Marcy's face.

"And just what do you think you're doing to my reindeer, girl?" Marcy's eyes went wide and sparkly.

"This is a reindeer?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Marcy nodded, looking over at the woman who threw the axe. "You can hear. That's good. Now, tell me, what do you want?"

"I'm looking for my friends." Marcy still held onto the wide eyed shivering and crying reindeer. "One of them is really sick and I'm kinda worried." The old woman grinned.

"That sick friend of your's a girl with orange hair."

"Yup yup. That's Nami."

"Follow me then." She turned and began walking away. Marcy blinked. For an old lady, she sure did have a sexy body. She wondered if Sanji would flirt with her or not.


	12. Chapter 12

**I go into surgery tomorrow. Recovery will take a week at the least and my meds may make me to out of it to write anything for at least another week or two. At the longest it may take me a month to update after this, but if I'm lucky like last time, I should be in my proper state of mind with in a week. Let's hope for that.**

**Also, this chapter is meant to explain and foreshadow a lot of things. Read carefully.**

* * *

Chapter 12

Marcy was saddened to say the least. Nami was fine, making a rapid recovery though she was asleep when Doctor Kureha lead Marcy to the room. What made her sad, was the state of Sanji and Luffy. Both looked to have been through hell and Doctor Kureha had confirmed that it was in order to get Nami up here safely. Rather quickly Marcy's mood soured. She had been passed out on the Going Merry while her friends risked their lives to help Nami. She'd been proving herself to be rather useless as of late. Marcy wasn't sure when she had begun to doubt herself so much, but she had never truly cared before Luffy and his crew showed up. Even during Marishka's harsh training, Marcy had never really cared how much progress she made or how quickly. Now seemed to be an entirely differently story, she felt weak and inferior. With a slight facial tick, Marcy's smile widened and she began drowning her mind in happy thoughts, though on occasion a dark one seeped into the mix. The wise doctor sitting across from her didn't miss this and she grinned.

"Tell me, Doll, who built you?" Marcy threw Doctor Kureha a large, proud grin.

"Ryuuden!" The older woman let out a cackle.

"I should have figured that fool made you!" Marcy growled at the woman. "Calm down, Doll. I was only stating the truth. Ryuuden was a fool searching for something he didn't understand."

"What's not to understand? He wanted to make me human."

"That's not what I meant. That heart of yours, he didn't have the slightest clue about how it worked." Marcy's eyes narrowed.

"And you do?" The woman laughed again before taking a large gulp of whatever the hell she was drinking. Marcy assumed it was alcohol of some kind.

"Of course not." She slammed the bottle onto the table. "I'm a doctor, not an archeologist, but I did a little research on it after I heard Ryuuden and Raux raving about bringing inanimate objects to life."

"You heard them? Does that mean you met my father?" Doctor Kureha grinned, but it lacked mirth. It was almost tragic.

"Indeed I did. I met him and Raux on their quest for that heart of yours."

"Who's Raux?" Doctor Kureha took another long gulp from her bottle.

"Let me tell you a little story, Doll. You probably won't like it, but shut up and listen anyway." Doctor Kureha held the bottle loosely by it's neck as she leaned back in her chair, tilting it back on to two legs. "I was about twenty at the time when two idiots were pulled from the ocean. Luckiest bunch of dumb asses on the Grand line. Apparently their ship was swallowed by a giant sea king, not sure how they survived, but they did. Barely alive and incredibly delirious. For a while I thought they were just sharing the same delusion, but when they got better they continued on with their nonsense about some artifact and three stones that could give life to objects. It took them four months to fully recover and acquire a new ship and crew, but in that time I learned a good bit about their goal. Raux knew the exact location to the artifact and stones. All he wanted was to be the one to prove them to be real and not just legends. Ryuuden could care less about the fame, he wanted to use them to bring his daughter back." At that, Kureha gave Marcy a pointed look. "They left and my interest was peaked ever so slightly. Something that could give artificial life would interest any doctor." She tipped her head back and drank deeply from her bottle.

"Wh-what did you find out?" Marcy had never felt anxiety to the point that she felt, how did humans put it?, nauseous.

"Next to nothing." Kureha shook her head. "The only new information I found was that the artifact was a set of three. The one they were looking for is the one that can give life if all three stones are powering it. There wasn't much on the other two, but from what I could find they were required to make the object truly alive. The one you've got, the heart, when working to it's fullest makes the object as physically alive as possible."

"So then the other two pieces aren't necessary?" A scalpel was lodged in the table, puncturing clean through Marcy's hand.

"I told you to shut up and listen, didn't I?" Marcy nodded, wide eyed and shivering. Old women were scary. "Good. Now, to put it simply, the heart makes you alive, but not human."

"Bu-" Kureha held the scalpel up in a threatening manner. Marcy's mouth snapped shut.

"You're a doll. You'll always be a doll. You will never be a human, but you can come close. You need all of the parts, no exceptions." Marcy began to speak again, but suddenly the light decided to gleam off of the shiny silver scalpel and Marcy's words died in her throat. "The heart will make you as close to human as physically possible and I'm assuming the other two deal with your emotions and mental state."

"There is nothing wrong with my mental state or emotions. They're perfectly normal."

"Bullshit. You lack a full range of emotions as well as the capability to handle them."

"No. I have all the same emotions as everyone else and I can handle them just fine." Kureha leaned forward, something gleaming in her eyes.

"So tell me then, have you ever felt despair?"

"Yes. When I found out that Ryuuden died."

"And what happened when you found that out?"

"I. . .I relived the same day for over fifty years. . ." Kureha threw her a knowing smile.

"What happened the last time you were angered?"

"I. . ." Only one event came to mind. The red tinted image of Marcy's own satin hands breaking Marishka's arm. Marcy closed her eyes and willed the memory to go away, but it stayed and ached through her mind plaguing her with regret. A glance at Kureha's face told Marcy that the old doctor already had a vague idea of what was playing through Marcy's head.

"Emotions are powerful. As a doll, you were not made to feel such things. You were born emotionless as you were meant to be. You naturally lack the ability to process and cope with them. You feel sorrow and your body shuts down and tries to preserve it's happiness. You get pissed and you could kill an innocent bystander. Understand?" Marcy nodded.

"Yeah. I get it. Can you just finish telling me about Ryuuden and Raux now?" Kureha once again leaned her chair back on two legs, seemingly taking pity on the doll. She took a long swallow from her bottle, watching Marcy the entire time. The doll sat, eyes downcast and hands folded neatly in her lap.

"It was about ten years later when the ship those two fools left on came back. Raux was no where to be see and Ryuuden looked worn. He visited me one day and placed a sack on the table in front of me. In it was the heart and two of the stones, I figured he'd brag, but he just stared at them sadly. Later I found out from one of his crew members that Raux got greedy and in secret planned to murder Ryuuden and take the heart and stones to use for his own purposes."

"Ryuuden won, right? That's why he had the heart and stones."

"I wouldn't call it winning. Once he found out about Raux's plan, he devised one of his own. He got Raux to tell him the location of the final stone, then while exploring an uncharted island, Ryuuden shattered Raux's lower spine and left him there with enough supplies to survive." Marcy's eyes went wide. Horror and disgust filled her senses. She had never thought her father capable of doing anything even remotely cruel, but what Doctor Kureha just said was barbaric. "A desperate human is capable of many horrors. A desperate parent is capable of even more."

"How could he do that to his friend?"

"You forget that Raux planned to kill Ryuuden and they weren't friends. They were brothers. Raux was Ryuuden's older brother."

"How could. . . How could he just leave his brother to die like that?!" Tears rolled free from Marcy's eyes.

"Raux didn't die. When I was about seventy, Ryuuden and a man named Godric came by. They were going after the final stone as well as to check on Raux. Ryuuden didn't want him dead, but he wasn't going to let him get in the way. They left that night and several months later, I got a letter from Godric. He told me that Raux had been waiting for them. That he'd gained some bizarre power and created an army. Raux slaughtered their crew and mutilated Ryuuden. Godric planned to hunt him down and get revenge then grab the stone and head back to you. I was told to send word to his wife and child." Marcy's whole body quaked. She didn't know how to feel. Raux was the other person after the stones, after her heart. Was he still alive? Was he the one after her?

"Is he. . .Is Raux. . ."

"Last I heard he was at Fishman Island. That was nearly a year ago though." Marcy's body shook harder. She had three things to find in order to become human and now. . .now she knew who she had to kill, but the question was could she. Could she really kill the only family she had left? Was she capable of that?

"Marcy? Are you okay?" The doll's head turned so fast that her hair whipped threw the air and her marble spine made a slight grinding noise. Pastel eyes locked onto the tired and slightly ill looking form of Nami.

"Nami. . . How long. . ." Nami was taken back by the frightened, startled animal look in those pastel green eyes.

"The whole time. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to listen, but I didn't want to interrupt you." Marcy's eyes went wider and they filled with something Nami only remembered seeing in Marcy's eyes when they first meet. A hollow pain though this time it danced and mingled with rage and fear. "Marcy, I'm sorry. But don't worry. It doesn't matter how many things you need to find. We'll all help you. We-"

"Shut up!" Nami flinched back. Marcy had never yelled at her before. "Don't act like you understand! I don't. . . I don't want them to know any of this. . . Just keep your mouth shut! Just. . .just leave me alone!" In an instant Marcy thundered out of the room, racing blindly through the castle, away from Nami. Nami stared transfixed at the door Marcy left through. Kureha watched Nami.

"You act as if that's the first time she's behaved out of character." Nami looked down at her hands.

"It isn't, but that's the first time she's ever really looked so. . .so tormented."

"Then you haven't really been looking have you. That doll practically oozes misery."

"She's not miserable. She's always smiling and happy. Laughing and playing with Luffy and Ussop. She can't be that unhappy."

"She was made with a smile painted on her lips. She's had at least a hundred years of false happiness. She's bound to have a festering wound waiting to consume her."

"We won't let that happen. I won't. Sanji won't. Luffy won't. Zoro won't. Ussop won't. We won't lose a friend."

"She's a danger. The longer she runs around with emotions she can't control or understand, the worse she'll get."

"We're her friends. We don't care how dangerous she is. We'll help her. That's all that matters."

"And what happens when she gets angry? When she loses control and attacks you? With her body being powered by that heart, she could easily kill or maim you in seconds. What do you do then? Will being her friend be enough?"

"I don't care and neither does the rest of our crew. Now, let's discuss that reindeer of yours." Kureha grinned at Nami.

"Cheeky brat."

* * *

The little reindeer peered around the corner into the darkened hallway. His nose twitched twice. He stared intently at the doll sitting against the wall with her knees pulled to her chest. She looked sad. She looked frozen. The reindeer swallowed thickly and took two cautious steps forward before freezing. He waited and when she showed no signs of moving, he took another two steps forward. Again he waited and again she made no movements. Two more steps and the little reindeer found himself with in arms reach of the doll. She still didn't move. She didn't breath either.

"She's not breathing and I don't here a heart beat." He inched ever so slightly closer. "She's not even moving." Another inch forward and he lifted his little hoof to touch her. "Maybe she's ill or hurt." His hoof hovered an inch over her coat covered arm. "If she is, I won't be able to help her though. She looks human, but she's a doll. Doll's don't get the same medical treatment, do they?"

"I'm fine." The reindeer let out a loud shriek and scrambled back behind the wall, hiding backwards again. The doll turned her pastel eyes to him, her head turning slowly, robotically. The reindeer panicked just a bit more at that sight.

"I-I'm sorry. I saw you sitting there and you weren't breathing and I couldn't hear your heart so I thought maybe you were hurt, but I can see that you aren't so I can go if you want." The doll blinked at him. It took her a moment to sort through the jumble of words the reindeer had just spat out.

"I'm a doll. I don't breath." The reindeer blinked, moving from behind the wall and inching a little closer to Marcy again.

"Oh. So you don't have a heart beat either, then?" Marcy shook her head in the negative. The reindeer tilted his head confused. "You do? But I didn't hear anything." He looked up in a thoughtful manner.

"It's not something you can really hear." Marcy motioned him closer and inch by tiny inch, he came closer to the doll. She patted the ground next to her and carefully the reindeer dropped to a seated position, watching her intently. Marcy held out a smooth satin hand and with a moments hesitation he placed his tiny hoof into her hand.

At first, he felt nothing, but slowly a humming penetrated into his hoof and up his arm. It tingled and writhed through his body. A small tickling sensation danced across the roots of his fur, making some of it stand on end. It was pleasant and enjoyable. Chopper's eyes eased close while he focused on the hum. Like this, with his hoof in her hand, Chopper slowly began to hear a soft melody. It was peaceful and calm. No, wait, the melody was tragic and pained. No, it was changing again. Now it played something joyful and giddy. The melody was a twirling dance of emotions, each getting a chance in the spot light and occasionally sharing that light with another emotion or two. A big smile pulled across his face. Chopper had never heard or felt anything similar, not even in music.

"That's so cool!" He beamed, a shudder rippling through him as the hum continued to tickle his skin.

"Thank you." She retracted her hand and stuffed it back into her pocket. He stared at his hoof for a moment as the tingle evaporated from his body. A small part of the reindeer urged him to grasp her hand with his hoof again. "I'm Marcy." She smiled down at the reindeer.

"I'm Tony Tony Chopper!"

"Are you Kureha's pet?"

"No! I'm a doctor just like her!"

"You're a doctor named Chopper?" Chopper nodded his head. "How unfortunate."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I'd be horrified to have a doctor named Chopper working on me."

"There's nothing wrong with my name!"

"If you're a carpenter or a chief or a mortician, but it's a scary name for a doctor."

"Oh yeah! Well. . . Well what kind of name is Marcy?"

"Don't make fun of my name!"

"Then don't make fun of mine!" Both turned away with a huff.

"Don't you have patients to work on." Chopper froze before he began fidgeting and running in circles.

"THOSE TWO GUYS! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THEM!"

"Then go help them and stop running in circles?" Chopper looked at her, nodded, and sprinted off.

* * *

Marcy made it a point to remain by herself for the next several hours. She wandered aimlessly through halls and rooms, carefully avoiding Chopper and Kureha along with the now awake and rowdy members of her crew. Twice she'd nearly walked off of a balcony because she had been so absorbed in her own thoughts. Four times she'd been shocked back to reality by walking straight into a freezing cold wall. This particular time though, Marcy had come back to reality mid free fall from a balcony on one of the higher floors. Marcy turned herself in the air, allowing her to face the sky. She stuck her tongue out at the balcony. A shock wave rippled through the snow covered ground, tossing white flakes high into the air. Marcy laid in her indent, arms and legs splayed out. With a bored sigh Marcy stood and meandered back into the castle. She was vaguely aware of the group in front of the castle, but the one thing that fully registered was a fat man screaming. Marcy blinked and stared at his back as he gazed around the inside of the castle, shouting.

"WHO DID THIS TO MY CASTLE?!" She flinched at the volume of his voice. From behind, he looked like a hippo. Marcy moved closer and closer until she was standing parallel to him, gazing at him from the side. "They will be sorry for this. I'll kill them all." Fatty then looked up at the first level, an open door where a tuff of orange hair was peeking out and gazing around. "Huh?" He began to laugh.

"Who are you?" Marcy looked up at Nami and gave her a two fingered salute and a grin. Nami blinked, amazed that Marcy had gone unnoticed thus far by the large man.

"You must be a friend of that Straw-hat boy."

"No. No. Not at all. I don't even know him. What are you talking about? I don't understand at all." Marcy tilted her head, confused. What had she missed while she was wandering around?

"Oh. Really?"

"Yes. I'm just a regular navigator who's passing by this town." Nami then turned to leave and Marcy blinked a few more times. "Then, Goodbye." Fatty then began to climb one of the beams. Suddenly, Marcy remembered the man from their ship and she still owed him for chewing on Merry. Marcy lunged forward and grasped the man's coat thing in an attempt to throw him, but she found herself being pulled up right along after the man. Her feet kicked in the air as she growled.

"NAMI RUN! THIS FATTY WEIGHS MORE THEN ME!"

"WHAT DOES HIS WEIGHT MATTER!?" Nami shrieked at Marcy as the doll launched herself into a run beside the navigator.

"In my case it does! Since I don't technically have muscles, I have to use my weight as an anchor while using the stretchy material in my body to create a kind of slingshot effect. Since he weighs a lot more then me, I can't really toss him and I'm not sure a blow would do much from me." The pair rushed down stairs and Marcy let out a long laugh as the fat man got stuck.

"This isn't a time for laughing! Why don't you think your punches will work?"

"He's got a lot of metal on him. . ."

"SO?!"

"I'm no good against metal. . .no good at all." Marcy dead panned.

"W-well, is there anything you can try?" Nami questioned as they witnessed the fat man eat himself. Marcy cringed back as she watched his chin? hop down the stairs before he vomited himself back up.

"Slim up, Wapul!" Marcy gagged. He looked even uglier now.

"Yeah. I think I got something. Never used it before, so you'll need to distract him for me." Marcy locked eyes with Nami. Nami nodded. She trusted the doll with her life. She trusted all of her friends with her life. Marcy moved off to the side and Nami turned to run, only to be tackled by Wapul.

Uncontrolled power rippled from Marcy as a chime in the rhythm of a heart beat filled the air.

"50% out put!" Marcy's body looked nearly human, stitches and patches fading to look like off colored scars. Marcy charged forward with a speed previously unknown to her body. Her fist caught Wapul with a resounding impact, as he went flying. Nami watched, amazed and frightened as _muscles_ flexed underneath Marcy's no longer satin skin. She stared transfixed at the bead of sweat that rolled down Marcy's cheek. Clouds of steaming breath left Marcy's mouth in pants. Nami had the sudden urge to touch Marcy, just to see if this was real. If Marcy really was as human as she appeared right in this moment. A needle blade slide free from Marcy's wrist like usual. Nami briefly wondered when Marcy had stripped off her coat. she then noted with panic that Marcy's eyes were squinting and her body was swaying. The doll appeared to be rapidly running out of energy.

Wapul stood and Marcy rushed him again before was fully up right. Her fist slammed into his stomach again as she brought the needle blade down to slam into his shoulder. In the instant her needle came close to his body, Marcy's body shut down for a second, vision going black and newly created artificial muscles slackened. It lasted only a second, but a second was a long enough gap.

"MARCY!" Nami screamed, frightened, seconds before a wet tearing sound and a loud snapping crunch filled the air. Marcy's arm severed midway to her elbow, the severed part was then chewed and swallowed by Wapul. Marcy fell backwards, landing on her back before she began shuffling away. Gel oozed from her stub of a limb.

"You taste pretty good for a human!" His voice cut through the fog that had begun to gather in Marcy's head. She wasn't sure what was happening. She'd never used this particular ability before. She'd only ever done this for mere milliseconds and even then she didn't understand it fully. She assumed this agonizing numbness that was curling up her body from her arm was what pain truly felt like. The twitchy energy that coursed through her had to be adrenaline. Marcy couldn't focus, she didn't understand. She didn't like this. She was afraid. "Since you seem so eager to die, you get to be the first!" He lunged for her. Tears rolled free from Marcy's eyes and her body shook violently.

"I FOUND YOU!" Luffy's foot slammed into Wapul's face and sent him flying before he could get any closer to Marcy. Nami rushed forward and curled her arms around Marcy, pulling the quaking, panic stricken doll to her chest. Luffy came to a stop next to them. His eyes hard as he looked down at Marcy. "What happened?" Nami looked up at him, her eyes echoing her fear for Marcy.

"She-she was trying a new technique or something, I don't know, but she looked so weak after the first few seconds."

"Her arm. What happened to it?" Nami brought her eyes down to the oozing stump. The gel was flowing out like blood. Marcy was bleeding. In a flurry of thoughts, Nami wondered if it was possible for Marcy to bleed out like this. Could Marcy die, the way a human does, like this?

"That bastard bit it off." Luffy nodded turning back to look at Wapul.

"Hey, how come he's so skinny now?"

"Why does it matter if you're just going to kick his ass anyway!? Oh and Luffy." Luffy swallowed thickly as a dark look crossed Nami's face. "You owe me three times that jackets original price for ruining it." Marcy's body quaked harder. Nami gazed down at her, ignoring Wapul and Luffy when they ran off. Taking note that the key she had stolen was for a weapons room. Sanji came crawling towards her a moment later.

"Nami-swan, are you okay!?" He came to a full halt as he caught sight of the doll in Nami's arms. "What's wrong with Marcy?"

"I don't know." Tears began to bubble from Nami's eyes. "I- I think she's panicking."

* * *

The entire world around Marcy was swirling and writhing. She ached. She felt like she was on fire. She was sleepy, but she had never felt that before. She was dizzy. That was new. She wanted to cry, not out of sadness, but out of confusion and frustration and fright. She didn't understand. Her eyes burned. Tears leaked free of once glass eyes. Marcy was scared and pained. She'd never craved a companion as much as she did now. Marcy could vaguely see the people around her, whispering and shouting their worry. Some gazed at her with panic glistening in their eyes. Some had well concealed worry, but all the same, worry rippled through the room. Marcy fell deeper into her strange state. Her stupidity had reduced everyone to worrying about her and yet again she'd proven herself to more of a burden then anything else during a time of need.

This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. She should have practiced more before even considering using it. She should have tried to understand it. She wondered if this is what humans felt like when they went into battle. A twitchy electric energy coursed through her. It made everything sharper and slower. It was all bizarre and frightening. Marcy wasn't sure what she should do. This wasn't the same as when she did the few second trials. It was different. There were thousands of things going wrong. In the few seconds she had practiced, she'd remained the same. Sure, she had felt the wild and raging power coursing through her, but it was easy to manipulate then. What had changed? Why had she suddenly become unable to work her body or mind properly?

Marcy knew how to reverse this state. She just had to close the valves in her heart that she had opened. She just needed to seal away all of the energy that her body didn't need. Her body only needed ten percent to function like normal. The diamond could only last long term at that much out put, anymore and it would disintegrate rapidly. Marcy felt her panic rise more. With every passing second she could feel more of that power slipping out, the valves opening further. Right now, she estimated her heart was pumping out nearing seventy percent. She needed to calm down. She needed to close the valves quickly. From the bit she knew about this state, she could easily assume that the closer to one hundred percent out put meant the closer to being physically alive she was. At that point, she could only pray that it didn't mean she could die. That would be the ultimate failure. To be utterly useless to her friends and then die because she so stupidly decided she kill herself by using a technique that she so obviously wasn't ready to use. She was so stupid.

Cutting through the fog, were voices. Breaking and shattering tiny amounts of the icy feeling that coursed through her. There was a tiny one, barking out orders and commands. There was a man's voice fawning and shouting. An older woman's voice snapping at the others. There was a man's voice sobbing. Two women's voices whispering and talking softly. She focused on the voices. Marcy focused with all her might. Every ounce of her that was still working began to grasp at the voices, using them to pull herself back to the surface. Her insides grasped and tugged at the valves, urging them to close and slowly, ever so painfully slowly they eased close. Once that was done, Marcy released her hold on consciousness and allowed the dark abyss to take her away.

The dark abyss never took claim on Marcy's consciousness. Instead something far worse then the dark abyss wrapped around her and swallowed her whole. It writhed and swirled inside her until it burst open from it's dark cocoon and flooded her with a crackling scene.

* * *

"Hello." The body Marcy felt herself now residing in stated without emotion. There was no one in the room. The body looked around in a slow vacant and unsure motion. "Hello." It repeated. The voice wasn't Marcy's, just like the body. The body felt small, child like. It was too tiny to be Marcy's body. It was cramped. The voice was tiny and childish, though it was devoid of all things human. "Hello. My name is Marcela." There was a long pause. "No. You're wrong. Try again." Another pause. "Hello. My name is Macy." Silence yet again. "No. You're wrong. Try one more time." A smile curved on the mouth of this body. "Hello. My name is Marcy." The body's smile grew. "Very good. You're doing quiet well. Soon, you'll be acting just like a regular person."

"Captain Raux, it's doing it again." A young man with several patches of metal fused to his skin stated as he and another man entered the room. The man who hadn't spoken curled his hand around the other's throat. Black writhing veins began to ripple through the metal man's flesh.

"Get out, you pathetic cretin." He released the man's throat, black veins retracting as the man huffed.

"Captain, you have to consider that your powers only work on things that are already alive." The body's eyes were wide as they watched the scene. Marcy couldn't tell if a single coherent thought was going through this body's mind as it witnessed the man being called Captain throw a dark menacing glare at the other man. She felt the body repeat the facial expression as the other man fled the room. The 'Captain' turned to the body Marcy found herself trapped in and his expression softened to a gentle smile. The body repeated the action.

"Hello, Darling." The man pulled a seat up in front of the body. Marcy felt a spark of recognition course through the body and it smiled at him. "Do you remember my name?" Marcy gazed at the man. He had short cropped golden brown hair and eyes made of glowing blue that danced with a dangerous fire. His body was long and sickeningly thin. He looked starved and half crazy. Marcy burned with fear towards the man, but the body she was in twanged with happiness.

"You're name. . .is Raux?" The head tilted curiously.

"Good girl. Now what's your name?" He leaned closer, elbows on his knees.

"Marcela. . .Macy. . . Mar. . ." The body went still. The man, Raux, tightened his jaw for a moment, a flicker of violent annoyance danced across his face.

"Let's just shorten your name for the time being, alright? We'll just call you Mar, for now." He nodded and the body repeated that action. A silence fell and Marcy felt oddly panicked. Raux moved forward and carefully pressed a kiss to the forehead of the body Marcy found herself trapped in. His hand came up to ruffle violent red hair. "Ryuuden was a stupid fool. Wanting to make something perfect into a filthy imperfect creature. That child of his is nothing compared to you. She will never be able to compare to you." The body formed it's own coherent thought, it was a struggle, but the body spoke.

"I am a toy. . . . I can not move or talk well. . . I am broken."

"No. I just need time to perfect you and you need time to adjust." A scarred and bone thin hand reached into the body's lap and grasped a doll with the deep black silk hair and cream satin skin. He smiled as black veins rippled across the doll's entire body. The body Marcy was sealed inside shuddered and tensed. "A few more sessions with my powers and like everyone else on this ship, you'll have a life entirely of your own. That along with the devil fruit I fed you, you'll be ultimate, unsurpassable." From the black veins flowed a vile feeling into the body and by default into Marcy. It was anger, hatred, jealousy, loneliness, pain, sorrow, desire, and desperate need all wrapped and coiled together. These feeling flooded Marcy and sickened her. She wanted to get away, she fought against them, but they were consuming her. It was agony for her, but the body she was in responded positively to it. The body's heart beat stronger, it's eyes focused, and thoughts began to form properly. "I have to credit Ryuuden for your beginning. He built you with so much pain and agony. That was what breathed life into you. That was the small spark I needed to ignite the fire of life in you. This sorrow and loneliness is what drives you. What gives you life. Embrace it. Accept it. Let it consume you and use it to live." A thought began to echo, dancing through the body's mind and into Marcy's own.

_Raux loves me. He's the only one. I'll make him proud. I'll be perfect, just like he wants me to be._

Marcy screamed out. And she kept screaming until the dark abyss stole her away.

* * *

Marcy came to in a bed in a foreign room. She guessed it was one of the rooms in the castle. She didn't bother looking around. She didn't bother to look at her arm to see if anything had been done to fix it. She did nothing, but the person in the room knew she was awake.

"You're awake." It was dark, allowing the gruff voice that spoke to be hidden in the shadows. Marcy didn't respond. She continued to stare up, even as the one who had spoken came to sit on the foot of the bed. He said nothing more, just sat there and stared at her. For a long time, Marcy guessed nearly an hour, he sat there and stared at her. He was waiting for her to break down. He knew she would. It was only a matter of time. She didn't want to. She couldn't prove herself to be any more weak then she already had.

"I'm weak."

"Then get stronger."

"I don't know how."

"Then ask for help."

"From who? Who exactly can help me?"

"One of your friends. That's what we're here for, isn't it?" Marcy let her eyes meet Zoro's for the first time that night. His expression was an interesting mixture of a calm determination. He looked away and out the window at the night sky. "From what I saw, you lost control."

"Control?" Zoro nodded and turned his eyes back to her. Marcy struggled with her words. She truly wanted to ask for help. She did. The words burned at the back of her throat, but she couldn't say them. She couldn't ask and she didn't know why. Was it her simply not wanting to be a burden on her friends or was it that

she was embarrassed? "Doctor Kureha met my father." Zoro stared hard at her for a moment, considering her and her obvious dislike for asking for help. He wasn't going to push her. She'd ask eventually, he just hoped it would be soon. He looked back out the window. "She knew about my heart too. She knew a good amount." Zoro 'hmm'ed at her. "She told me who killed my father." Zoro looked down at her from the corner of his eye. Silence took over as Zoro studied her.

"She tell you were he is?" Marcy shrugged her shoulders.

"She said she'd heard he was on Fishman Island about a year ago."

"We'll find him."

"I know. I'm not concerned about that." Marcy sat herself up and joined Zoro in staring out the window. "The thing that bothers me is who he is. His name is Raux, he was my father's older brother. My uncle by default. The only family I have left and I don't know if I can kill him."

"You're goal is to live life without regret." Marcy looked at Zoro, but he was looking out the window again. "You'll just have to decide when the time comes which you'll regret less."

"You're pretty wise." Zoro met her eyes and a grin tore across her face. "For someone with such a terrible sense of direction."

"Shut up!" Zoro growled. He would have attacked her if she hadn't just woken up from a panic induced sleep. He grumbled a small bit before slouching against the wall beside the bed. "So tell me what you learned about your heart thing." Marcy stifled her laugh with her hand.

"There are two more pieces I need."

"The last stone and something else?" Marcy shook her head.

"In addition to the last stone. That means there are three things I need." Marcy shifted herself sideways on the bed to allow her head to rest against Zoro's shoulder. He glanced down at her, a little unhappy with the position, but he let it slide just this once. She did, after all just recently get her arm bitten off. "The heart with the stones makes me physically alive. The other two parts deal with emotions and my mentality or something like that."

"Is that what happened earlier." It wasn't really a question.

"What do you mean?"

"Nami said you looked almost completely human earlier." Marcy curled tighter to him. Zoro could feel the hum of her heart with her this close. It was slow and sad, tragic with a hint of fright. Unconsciously, he shifted so that she could curl against him better.

"I've known that I could do that for a long time, but only recently have I ever really tried to access it fully. I thought it would be easy to use once I'd gotten an understanding of it like my other abilities. But I never understood how it works. There are valves on my heart that control the out put of power. The more power I let be used, the more human my body becomes. In some way all of the training I've done my entire life becomes evident in that body then. I just didn't think about how hard it could be to control the power when I used it earlier."

"That was stupid of you." Marcy glared at him.

"You're no genius either." He glared back before relaxing again.

"I'm just being honest. You had no reason to believe you could handle that ability and the situation wasn't dire enough for you to risk it."

"I just wanted to prove that I wasn't weak."

"Shut up with that being weak crap." He crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. "All you need is more training."

"I already said that I don't how to train myself. Nothing I do has been working lately."

"Then ask for help or stop complaining."

"You're so mean, Zo. . .ro. . ." Marcy had raised her hand to bash Zoro upside his head, but she stared transfixed with horror at where her arm had once been. Bolted to her bone just below her elbow was a strange metal contraption. It was thick and cylindrical. Marcy noted several slots and hinges where the thing could shift and open. It was brightly polished, obviously made in a hurry and it looked nothing like an arm. Her senses examined the thing from the inside. Sure enough, she found hinges and panels and dividers. This thing was a weapon of some sort, curtsey of Ussop, obviously. The poor sniper had better have done this only as a temporary thing, otherwise, Marcy may consider breaking his nose off. Zoro had been looking at her arm as well and decided to speak up.

"Looks kinda like a club." A loud cracking sound filled the room. Blood ran down the side of Zoro's head as a massive lump formed.

"Works just as good too." Marcy swung it through the air a few times. "May not be too bad. Good thing I'm right handed." Zoro recovered from his near concussion.

"If you're right handed, then why did you hit me with your left hand thing, whatever that piece of shit is!?" Marcy looked at him like he was dumb.

"I try not to use my right hand since that's the hand I sew best with."

"That's stupid."

"Brain damage!" Marcy's new limb bashed Zoro over the head again. He fell to the floor, foot twitching lightly, but he didn't move. "Zoro?" No response. "Oops. . . Oh well. Good thing there are doctors near by!" With that Marcy flopped back on the bed and gazed at her arm thing. It was a painful sight to behold. She hated it to be honest. It wasn't beautiful or finely crafted or cute. Marcy decided that she could ignore it's atrocious appearance so long as it had very cool and useful functions. If they were useless or stupid, Marcy was going to use her new limb to bash Ussop's brains out.

* * *

Ussop shot up from where he was sleeping. Suddenly, he was afraid. Very afraid. Ussop swallowed thickly and laid back down. It was nothing, right?


	13. Bonus Chapter

**This is tide you over while I work out the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it, I may do one every so often when I have writer's block.**

* * *

A One Piece Fairy Tale

_The book of Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales comes into focus. It's pages turn slowly until they halt on a single page with the bold letter's of a title in plain sight._

_For tonight's delight, we have a tail called __The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean__._

* * *

"I can't believe she's making us do this." Grumbled Ussop as he shimmied into a costume. "Stupid authoress thinking that just because she's writing a story that's doing well she can just throw us into some fairy tail that no one's ever even heard of." A booming voice sounded from the heavens.

_I already told you NOT to break the fourth wall, DAMN IT! It's expensive to fix that thing._

Ussop rolled his eyes, feeling a sudden defiance and annoyance.

"Why exactly are we doing this again?" Luffy paused in his trek to the stage, a bright grin spreading his face.

"Cause it'll be fun!"

_And I'm paying Nami._

Luffy nodded his head, before rushing onto the stage, already forgetting his lines.

"But you've got even less money then we do. How are you paying her anything?"

_My currency is different then yours._

"We still can't use it here." The voice of God, ahem, excuse me, I mean, the voice of the author growled in annoyance.

_I promised to write in ten million berries worth of treasure into the story for her._

"Figures. Cheap author couldn't even afford to buy that One Piece shirt she wanted. Obviously there was no way you could pay Nami off."

_Alright, that's it. Screw you buddy. SANJI!_

A black blur slammed into Ussop's face, crunching his nose.

"Do you need anything else, my beautiful Queen?"

_Get everyone on stage and in place, Dear._

"Of course~! Anything for the beautiful authoress."

_Good. Now, let the story begin~!_

* * *

_In a village dwelt a poor old woman, who had gathered together a dish of beans and wanted to cook them._

Sanji appeared on the stage in plain brown dress, placing a bowl of beans on the table. He rolled his sleeves up and began cleaning them.

"Even with just a bunch of beans, I can still prepare a delicious meal for Nami-swan when she returns."

_So she made a fire on her hearth, and so that it might burn quicker, she lighted it with a handful of straw._

Between Sanji's fingers, amongst the straw was a tiny Luffy, who wriggled and screamed as he was tossed into the hearth with the straw. Luffy leapt out of the fire, shrieking loudly as the seat of his shorts burned with flames. He ran in circles on the ground by Sanji's giant feet.

_When she was emptying the beans into the pan, one dropped without her observing it, and lay on the ground beside a straw, and soon afterwards a burning coal from the fire leapt down to the two._

With a startled shout, Zoro fell from the pan and landed on top of Luffy. With loud shrieks of pain, Ussop was tossed violently from the fire and landed on top of Zoro. Zoro threw him off and looked around confused.

_Then the straw began and said, "Dear friends, from where do you come here?"_

"What the hell is going on?" Zoro demanded.

"Satu-Ryuu is making us do some stupid fairy tail." Ussop responded.

"Which one?" Zoro asked though he really could care less.

"_The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean._"

". . . What?"

"It's from some book she was given as a get well soon present."

"I'm going back to the ship."

"Zoro, you can't!" Luffy whined, his butt no longer in flames.

"Why not?" Luffy's face became serious.

"Because Satu-Ryuu is recovering from surgery and I promised her we would do this." A long silence ensued.

"Fine, I'll stay, but I'm not acting or anything."

"Also, I promised we'd wear costumes!"

"What!?" A loud snap filled the air as white light blinded everyone for a moment. When they all could see again, they broke down laughing. Zoro was tightly fastened inside a lime green bean costume. Luffy and Ussop remained in their normal attire, though Ussop was covered in soot. Booming laughter sounded from the heavens. Zoro glared at the ceiling, mentally cursing the author. If she wasn't so weak, he would have killed her. The author's laughter cut off sharply and she grumbled for a moment before continuing with the story.

_The coal replied, "I fortunately sprang out of the fire, and if I had not escaped by main force, my death would have been certain - I should have been burnt to ashes."_

Ussop looked to the heavens, intending to ask the author what he was supposed to do. He had forgotten most of his role in the excitement. Ussop's face fell and he turned green. Clasping a hand tightly over his mouth, Ussop stared at the ground. Willing the vomit to stay down.

"What's wrong with you?" Zoro asked, pausing in his attempts to reach his swords. Ussop pointed up. Luffy and Zoro looked up. Their eyes went wide. Zoro's mouth stretched downward in a grimace. Zoro began to shake his head. "I'm never going to get that image out of my head." True enough and because the author is mean, the image of looking up a giant Sanji's short brown dress would be forever lodged in Zoro's poor brain. Hairy legs and pink with red heart boxer briefs included.

"Cool!" Zoro and Ussop stared at Luffy disgusted.

_The bean said, "I too have escaped with a whole skin, but if the old woman had got me into the pan, I should have been made into broth without any mercy, like my comrades."_

"How come Sanji get's to be a giant! That's not fair! I wanna be a giant too!"

"He really didn't notice the dress?" Ussop felt sweat run down his face.

"Apparently not." Zoro grumbled. "When can we leave?"

"_And would a better fate have fallen to my lot?" said the straw. "The old woman has destroyed my brethren in fire and smoke: she seized sixty of them at once, and took their lives. I luckily slipped through her fingers."_

"That part should be coming up soon I think." Ussop stated scratching his head. "Though to be honest I have no idea. This story is stupid, no wonder no one's ever heard it before." Zoro hummed in agreement. The watched Luffy climb Sanji's leg via his leg hair while they waited for the next scene. The author felt tears slide down her face. Why were they being so mean to her?

"_But what are we to do now?" said the coal._

Luffy dropped to the ground beside Ussop and Zoro. He stuck his tongue out and looked sickened.

"What's wrong with you?" Zoro asked.

"I think I just saw Sanji's-"

"NEVERMIND!"

"_I think," answered the bean, "that as we have so fortunately escaped death, we should keep together like good companions, and lest a new misfortune should overtake us here, we should go away together, to a foreign country."_

"This is the part were we leave."

"Finally." Zoro grumbled, attempting to strut out of there with his pride intact though he was reduced to a type of waddle because of the bean suit. Serves the mean bastard right.

"BYE-BYE SANJI!" Luffy hollered as he followed his friends out the door.

"Satu-Ryuu, May I take the dress off now?"

_Only if you make me cookies._

"Anything for you, my Queen!" A snap sounded followed by blinding light. Sanji was left in nothing but his underwear and an apron. A wolf whistled sounded from the heavens.

_The proposition pleased the two others, and they set out on their way in company. Soon, however, they came to a little brook, and as there was no bridge or foot-plank, they did not know how they were to get over it. The straw hit on a good idea, and said, "I will lay myself straight across, and then you can walk over me as on a bridge."_

"GUM GUM ROCKET!" Zoro managed to avoid Luffy's grasp. Ussop did not.

_The straw therefore stretched itself from one bank to the other, and the coal, who was of an impetuous disposition, tripped quite boldly on to the newly-built bridge. But when she had reached the middle, and heard the water rushing beneath her, she was, after all, afraid, and stood still, and ventured no further._

Ussop shrieked, tears running down his face as he was hurled to the other side of the brook and straight for the trees.

_The straw, however, began to burn, broke in two pieces, and fell in to the stream. The coal slipped after her, hissed when she got into the water and breathed her last._

Ussop and Luffy slammed into a tree before being rebounded into the brook. Ussop was rendered unconscious on impact while Luffy gurgled and sank because of his devil fruit powers. They were both carried away by the brook.

_The bean, who had prudently stayed behind on the shore, could not but laugh at the event, was unable to stop, and laughed so heartily that she burst._

Zoro, the almighty bean, sighed before diving into the brook and dragging his friends out.

_It would have been all over for her, likewise, if, by good fortune, a tailor who was traveling in search of work, had not sat down to rest by the brook._

Marcy, who was a giant just like Sanji, plopped down next to her mini friends. She frowned up at the sky.

"Why is it, that the only male part is played by a girl while men play all the female parts?"

"Because the author thinks cross dressing is funny." Zoro grumbled, trying to free himself from his bean costume.

"Huh? But doesn't she dress like a boy?"

_I DO NOT!_

"DENIAL PROVES ME RIGHT!"

_You're gunna get your ass handed to you in the next chapter of A Doll's Life._

"Don't I get my ass handed to me every chapter? I mean really. Could you have at least made me a little kick ass?'

_No. That wouldn't have worked with the plot._

"Bull shit. You just-"

"Stop arguing with her so we can finish this damn thing and go back to the normal story!" Zoro roared in annoyance.

_Fine, but let it be known that I won this argument._

"Whatever. You won an argument with a figment of your imagination. Good job crazy, now go take your pills." Marcy waved her hand in a shooing motion while the author growled and sobbed slightly.

_As he had a compassionate heart he pulled out his needle and thread, and sewed her together._

Marcy did as the author said. She pulled out a needle and thread, snatched up mini Zoro the almighty bean and began stitching into his costume.

_The bean thanked him most prettily, but as the tailor used only black thread, all beans since then have a black seam._

Marcy turned Zoro around to show the readers what she had stitched into his costume. The words read: _The Greatest Bean. Costs Ten Million Berries._

"THIS IS A LOAD OF SHIT! PUT ME DOWN SO I CAN KILL THE AUTHOR!" A snap sounded followed by blinding light. Zoro was left in a frilly pink dress and bonnet, pumpkin panties peeking out from underneath the short skirt.

"That color does not work with your hair." Marcy grumbled, lifting Zoro by one leg, leaving him hanging upside down. He shrieked and shouted all the while trying to keep his skirt covering his boy parts. "Kinda cute though. . ." A grin tore across her face and she met eyes with the readers. "Who wants to buy him, comes as is. He'll go to the highest bidder!"

_And that is our story. Drug induced, random, and of no significance to the story at all. With this at it's end, the crew must return to their journey and so they bid you all good night._

"PUT ME DOWN, GODDAMNIT! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Opening bid is 20 berries!"

"How come I wasn't in this?"

"Because, Chopper, the authoress adores you. She'd never be this cruel to you."

"Oh. Well, maybe she'll let me be in the next one?"

"If not, you can take my place."

"Really? Thanks Ussop!"

"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" Sanji roared, everyone went silent. He was still in just an apron and underwear.

"MY EYES!" Marcy shrieked, crushing mini Zoro over her eyes. Everyone else simply looked away, going green in the face.

"Satu-Ryuu would like to extend her personal thanks and love to all of the beautiful women who red and reviewed as well as wished her luck with her surgery. You're beautiful words have speed her recovery along quiet nicely."

_Ahem. _

"Right. And thank you to all of you shitty bastards who don't really deserve to read this but do anyway." A snap sounded followed by light. Sanji was reduced to a mini version and in a frilly lilac dress the same as Zoro's dress. Marcy snatched him up.

"And now we've got a Sanji for sale as well! C'mon ladies, you know you want him! Opening bid is Ten Berries!"

"Why is the Shitty swordsman's opening bid higher then mine!?" Sanji roared.

"Obviously because more people would want me."

"Bull shit!"

"Nope, Zoro's right. Sanji would just end up being a personal cook or a man slave, but Zoro would be a sex slave!"

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU LEARN THAT KIND OF WORD!?" Sanji and Zoro shrieked. Both going red in the face.

"I read one of Satu-Ryuu's books! The one's she keeps hidden!"

_And with that this story is over! Good-bye and good night!_


	14. Chapter 13

**And I'm back! Far from completely healed and I've had to edit this chapter nearly eight times cause my head's still a bit foggy and I took the story down some crazy rabbit trail that would have cost me all of my readers.**

**Anyway this chapter was meant to be finished and published days ago, but it's slow going and I'm having a hard time focusing. I apologize in advance if some parts of this chapter don't make complete sense.**

* * *

Chapter 13

Marcy sat in the snow examining her new temporary limb. Her eyes were dull looking, half lidded as they slowly shifted back and forth from the metal contraption to it's builder. Ussop swallowed thickly every time pastel eyes stared at him. He had a nice wall of snowing forming around him, though it would do no good if Marcy decided to attack him. He prayed Marcy didn't attack him. She hadn't said a single thing to him, not a word. The only acknowledgement he had received from her besides the dull glances was her pointing the substitute limb at him and glaring. For some reason that moment brought the memory of the cannibalism conversation back to his mind. He shuddered before casting a glance at Marcy, she met his gaze. Ussop swallowed thickly again as her lips spread in a nasty sneer. Had her teeth always been so sparkly and sharp?

Zoro had seated himself between the two, but slightly behind them. He was waiting for Marcy to attack Ussop. He was rather worried for Ussop's sake. When Zoro regained consciousness last night, he had heard Marcy mumbling to herself. He could only make out one part of her mumblings, but it left him rather worried. He was positive he had heard her say 'I'm not human so it's not cannibalism.' shortly followed by, 'Maybe Sanji will cook him if I ask nicely.' Yeah, Zoro was just a bit worried, but honestly, did anyone really think that lump of limb was going to go over well with Marcy? With a sigh, he began speaking, gaining both the possibly cannibalistic doll's and the terrified sniper's attention.

"Ussop, you wanna tell her what that thing on her arm does before she decides to just eat you?" Marcy grinned as if to confirm that she was planning on eating Ussop. Ussop nodded vigorously, partly crouched behind his defensive wall of snow.

"Alright, well, first things first. All of the controlling mechanisms are on the inside. I figured that once it was attached to you, you could control it about the same way you do with the rest of your body." Marcy nodded her head affirmation. The threads that connected to her heart wove through her body like nerves and acted like internal controls. They moved according to Marcy's needs to create the appropriate movements and happenings. She already had tendrils probing the inside of the thing on her arm. "Good. So I tried to keep things close to what your used to. There should be a small dial on the left side a few inches from the connective area." Marcy nodded, coiling tendrils around the knob. "It turns to the left, you should hear a click." The knob turned easily, a click sounded, and the contraption went from being cylindrical to forming a spike about six inches longer then it had been. Marcy nodded. She didn't look impressed, but she was far from being against the idea of eating Ussop. "Turn it one more click." Marcy did as told and the spike collapsed as a pincher type of thing extended. Marcy still did not look impressed. "Turn the knob one more time, please." The pincher folded away and the thing shifted into an open ended funnel. Marcy gazed at Ussop curiously. "This one is by far the best form of the three. It's capable of firing anything you choose at a speed as fast if not faster then a gun or a cannon! The size adjusts to suit whatever you decide to fire. Now, I've created-" A small pop sounded shortly before a small pinkish red ball slammed into Ussop's forehead. A welt formed between his eyes and he grumbled. "Alright, as I was saying, I made special bullets for you to u-" Another pop sounded just before one of the needles Marcy usually wielded like a blade tore a hole in Ussop's snow wall. Zoro's face went black while Ussop shrieked. For some reason, Zoro had the feeling that Marcy would be shooting things at them now. "Let's just move on to the last few features. Turn the knob back to it's starting position." Marcy did as told. Her arm thing returned to it's original state. "Now, there's a small lever. Pull that." Her arm thing split open in four pieces, resembling a metal flower. Silence reigned. Marcy had no clue what the hell this was supposed to be and her displeasure was overtly evident. Ussop shuddered in fear as she turned bland eyes to him.

"What is that?" Zoro watched curiously. It was rather dumb looking.

"That is the greatest feature of all! THE UTILITY FLOWER!" Ussop shouted with pride, hands on hips and nose in the air. A multitude of things sprung free from each segment. One segment had knives, each about three inches long, with different blade types, a pair of scissors, and a small slot filled with needles of varying thickness and length. The next segment had screwdrivers. The third one had spools of different things, wire, thread, twine for stitches in flesh, some type of elastic thread, and what looked to be barbed wire. The final segment had odd things to say the least. There was a pair of tweezers, a cark screw, a bottle cap opener, and a lighter. "Now, no matter what, you'll always be prepared for anything!" The four segments snapped closed. Marcy's face was shadowed as her head was bowed. Slowly her uncovered eye snapped to Ussop, it was wide and glistening with nasty intentions, mouth pulling wide. Ussop didn't notice as he continued on with his proud boasting. A chill ran down Zoro's spine. God, that doll knew how to be creepy.

"Ussop~?" Marcy called. The sniper turned to her proudly, but froze, going paler then the snow wall around him.

"Y-yes?" She stood, but made no move toward him.

"I am not a utility bag." She took two steps towards the shivering sniper. Zoro watched, he was only going to interfere unless Ussop was near death.

"Yes. Sorry." Ussop bowed, hands held up and pressed together with head bowed.

"And You will have a new _ARM_ built for me quickly." She moved closer. Ussop dove behind Zoro. Zoro tried to shake him off, but Ussop clung to him like a fungus.

"A-a-a-about that. . . Umm. . . Well. I never really managed to get material for your bones or anything and this place doesn't have any. . . I checked already. So, I can't really make an arm for you yet." Zoro ducked when Marcy let out a string of garbled shouts and swung her club of an arm. He knew the agony that thing could inflict and he wasn't about to take another blow to the head. Ussop however he didn't dodge quite fast enough as the club caught his nose and caused it to crunch, bending at an odd angle. Ussop shrieked and Marcy lunged. Zoro moved to intercept, but stopped, confused.

Marcy had stopped short, her club like hand just inches from Ussop's skull, a blank look bending her face. Pastel eyes shifted to stare into the distance. The three pirates remained in their halted positions for several moments.

Zoro tensed further. He could feeling a killing aura rippling around them, directed entirely on Marcy. His eyes became fixed on the same point as Marcy. He saw nothing, but the edge of the mountain. That didn't faze him. He knew she was here. He could feel it and he could smell the faint burn of acid in the air. His eyes snapped to Marcy as she began to work her way towards that point.

"Marcy." Zoro's deep voice called. There was no definite meaning behind the way he called her name, but it meant more then could be explained in words. Marcy seemed to understand. She turned her eye toward him and met his gaze. Zoro snorted, falling back into the snow and closing his eyes. Marcy continued forward, vanishing in the falling snow.

She wandered for a moment, following a strange itch that called to her. She followed that itch until music filled the air, faint and sad. She had heard this song before back in Logue Town, in that small shop as she held that stupid doll in her hands. Marcy came to a stop when the music was at it's loudest. Above head level and a few yards ahead of Marcy, floated a rippling purple cloud. It hovered several feet away from the edge of the mountain. On that cloud sat a girl with acid green hair. She hummed with the sad tune that flowed from a porcelain and satin doll that she held in her small hands. The child grinned at Marcy.

"I wasn't sure if you'd come." The girl laughed. It was light and airy and very unnatural. "I'm glad you did though. I have big news for you."

"Honestly, I don't really care."

"Now, that was just rude." Marcy stuck her tongue out at the girl, who sighed in annoyance. "Can I just tell you what I came to tell you?" Marcy looked away with arms crossed and pout on her face. She shook her head in the negative. "And why not?" A tic mark formed on the girl's head.

"I'm not talking to you unless you give me a name to call you by." The girl almost snarled at Marcy.

"I told you to call me-" Marcy cut the girl off.

"I'm NOT calling you Big Sis nor will I call you any abbreviation or form of my name."

"Those are the only names I was ever given."

"By that ass hat, Raux, right?" The girl nodded, shocked. "You obviously don't like him, so pick your own name already."

"But children are named by their parents and Ryuuden never gave me a name." Marcy gave the girl a look that stated the girl was stupid.

"You're not a child. You never were." The girl opened her mouth to argue, but Marcy continued on. "Shut up and give me a name or I'm leaving." The girl stared at Marcy long and hard. She was aggravated. Why did it matter what she called her? She was just a doll borrowing a human's body. In a few decades or sooner she would abandon this one and steal a new one. A name was unimportant. In that moment, with that thought, a memory sparked to life in both of the doll's minds. It linked them, solidifying a bond that had always existed somewhere deep down and unseen.

* * *

_Ryuuden smiled bright as he stared down at his frowning child. She had only been alive for a week and a day, she was still so very young and so very unaware. Ryuuden wanted her to know everything, but he didn't want to spoil her. He knew already that she was very much informed on the logical aspects of everything in this world, he had no idea how she was, but it was obvious by the glint in her eyes. It was the heart, he guessed, that gifted her with the most basics of logic. Still, his darling doll burned with curiosity. Just moments ago she'd asked him about names and meanings._

" _You see, Marcy, All names have a meaning. My dearly departed wife's name was Mary, which meant of the sea. Never before had I met a woman who loved the sea more then the fish themselves." Ryuuden smiled as memories flooded his mind. Memories of his beautiful wife and her love of the sea. Marcy stared at him as he came back from his memories. "Point is, every name is special and has a meaning."_

"_Alright, what does your name mean then?" Ryuuden froze, a twitch jerking his body before he turned to his daughter with nervous laughter._

"_It doesn't really have a meaning."_

"_You just said that all names have meanings."_

"_I know. But you see, my name is just two words put together cause my parents thought it sounded nice." Marcy snorted at him._

"_So not all names have meanings."_

"_Don't you get smart with me, young lady." _

"_I'm confused again."_

"_Some names have meanings that aren't written down. A personal meaning, I guess."_

"_Still confused." Ryuuden grumbled for a moment scratching at his stubble._

"_I told you about the slaves right?" Marcy nodded. "Say a slave was named by their master." Marcy nodded again. "The name their master gave them would symbolize their slavery, the fact that they are someone's property. It would mean that they are a slave, not even capable of choosing what they are called. Does that make things a bit more clear?" Marcy blinked twice._

"_Yeah, I guess." She scratched her head. "So what does my name mean?" A nervous sweat drop ran down Ryuuden's face._

"_Well, it's the female form of Marcus which means warlike. . ." Ryuuden grinned at Marcy, who turned away._

"_That's stupid."_

"_HEY!" Marcy ignored him. "C'mon! Think of it as representing how much Papa loves you!" She continued to ignore him. "HEY! I said you could pick your name and you said you liked that one!"_

"_ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONE YOU WANTED TO CALL ME!"_

"_I DIDN'T MAKE YOU PICK IT! AND DON'T YELL AT YOUR FATHER!"_

* * *

"I. . . I wasn't expecting that. . ." The girl whispered, once the memory released the dolls. "I mean. I knew you had caught a glimpse of my past yesterday, that was why I decided to come here, but I didn't know we could do that."

"Yesterday?" Marcy blinked.

"Yeah. I've always been able to tap into you. It's how I knew you had come out of that insanity. I figured if I could do that then you could do the same, but I didn't think we could manage it at the same time like that."

"What was that?" The girl blinked at Marcy before grinning.

"I'll tell you later, but didn't you want a name?" Marcy nodded. After a long moment of silence, the girl grinned. " Call me Sesi. It means sister."

"Alright. Sesi, what did you want to talk to me about?" The girl, Sesi, felt an odd warm feeling course through her. She felt lighter, more free. Had riding herself of the name forced upon been that liberating? Could choosing her own name really make that much of a difference? Sesi doubted it. It was just the way Marcy had said her new name. With that warm accepting tone that spoke of affection and pride. That was what this feeling was from. It was not caused by changing her name. That would just be absurd, though she was rather proud of her new name. It was different and beautiful. And now Marcy had to refer to her as her sister! Sesi smiled in serene triumph. Marcy was slightly disturbed by the expression.

"I have some information that would really be useful to you."

"I highly doubt that." Sesi threw Marcy a rather mocking look.

"Since the last time you saw me, I've been hunting down and killing any and all members of Raux's crew. So, I've got pretty good tabs on all of their movements." Marcy's eyes narrowed.

"And why would you do that?"

"I hate Raux. Very much so. Actually I hate him more then you could possibly imagine. I'm . . . incapable of killing Raux himself and several specific members of his crew, but I'm doing all that I can to hinder him."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sesi smiled. It was devious and nasty. Marcy felt fear and anxiety curl in her gut.

"I'm telling you because without me doing all of this, you and your friends would have been attacked almost constantly by this point. That would make saving Alabasta very hard, wouldn't it?" Marcy nodded. Sesi smiled brighter. "I'm simply hoping that when the time comes, you'll return the favor."

"What favor?" Sesi waved her hand dismissively.

"We'll discuss that later, but for now, I've got something you just have to hear." Sesi's eyes held such a morbid intensity that Marcy couldn't break away from her stare. "One of Raux's top men works for Crocodile." Sesi's cloud floated closer, so that she could lean down to whisper into Marcy's satin ear. "She has the third stone~!" Marcy's eyes went wide.

* * *

"What was that about?" Ussop questioned, scratching at his head and staring in the direction Marcy wandered. "Wasn't she going to beat my brains out?" Zoro didn't even crack an eye open.

"She had to go take care of something."

"All the way up here?"

"Mm." Zoro sat up as Luffy began to come into view. "Some problems just follow you." With the glance Zoro shot in the direction Marcy wandered, Ussop had a sudden realization on what that 'something' was.

"Y-you mean, that g-girl followed us here?" Ussop stared intently into the falling snow. Waiting for signs to show Marcy was fighting. He swallowed thickly. They should go to Marcy. They should be there with her. Zoro grunted in response to Ussop. Ussop rounded on him. "WAIT! YOU KNEW THAT AND YOU JUST LET HER GO ALL ALONE LIKE THAT! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!? SHE COULD BE GETTING TORN TO PIECES RIGHT NOW!" Zoro snorted and rolled his eyes.

"She wanted go by herself." Zoro watched Luffy in a bored manner as the boy panted and shouted at the little reindeer. "Besides, she's already on her way back to us." Ussop turned and true to Zoro's word, Marcy's form was slowly coming into view. She had no wounds, but her face was contorted in frustration.

"HEY, REINDEER!" Marcy's eyes snapped up at Luffy's shout, a surprised look overtaking the frustration. "JUST COME AND BE A PIRATE WITH US!" Marcy smiled wearily and shook her head. When she came to a stop beside Ussop, he looked away from her and to Luffy.

"Give it up, Luffy. You've been chasing him for a long time, but he's still running away."

"Maybe he doesn't want to become a pirate." Zoro added.

"Or maybe he thinks you're going to try to eat him again." Marcy grumbled.

"He tried to eat him?"

"Yup. Oh and Ussop?"

"Hmm?" A loud whumping crack filled the air and Ussop hit the ground twitching and bleeding. Zoro flinched in remembrance of the pain that Marcy's club like hand caused him. Poor Ussop didn't stand a chance.

"How can you know that? I want to take him with me." Luffy shouted at Zoro, while Marcy used Ussop as a couch. Every time the poor sniper twitched, Marcy knocked him over the head.

"THAT'S ONLY YOUR DECISION!" Zoro screamed looking aggravated. He was ignored, by everyone.

"REINDEER! REINDEER!" Luffy shrieked annoyingly and slowly but surely the little reindeer came into view. "AH! REINDEER! Hey, you want to become a pirate with me, right?" The little guy looked sad and determined, scared maybe.

"That's impossible." His tiny voice stated. Marcy felt a desire to hug the little thing course through her.

"Why is it impossible? A pirate's life is very fun, you know?" Ussop twitched and Marcy slammed her club like hand onto his head. Zoro poked her with a sheathed sword.

"Don't you think you're going a little overboard there?" Marcy looked at him, raised her club hand, and grinned. Zoro grimaced back. "You're right, carry on."

"I really want to. Thank you." Marcy stood and stared. The little guy was near tears. "But I'm a reindeer. I have hooves and horns. I also have a blue nose!" Luffy was frowning. Everyone else just watched. "Actually. . . . I want to be a pirate, too! But I'm a monster, not human! I'm a monster! I can't be friends with humans! That's why I cam here just to thank you! . . . Thank you for asking me. But I will stay here. If you're bored, just come to visit me sometimes." Tears began their trail down his fur covered cheeks.

"That's stupid!" Marcy grumbled, the reindeer stared at her. "I'm not human. I'm covered in patches and stitches and now I've got this stupid utility club thing for a hand. I'm made of clothe and stone and whatever else has been used to repair me. I don't heal. I just get patched up. I don't bleed, I just ooze some kind of gel. I don't have a heart beat or a brain or any other organ. If not being human makes you a monster, then I'm one as well, so we can be friends!" Tears flowed freely, dampening his brown fur. Marcy slowly trekked through the snow towards him.

"But you look human! I don't! I'm a reindeer that walks on two legs and talks! I'm a m-" She cut him off before he could finish.

"You are Chopper, an adorable little fellow that's being too hard on himself." Her satin arms curled around him and she lifted Chopper off the ground and into her chest. Marcy nuzzled her face into his soft brown fur. His little arms curled around her shoulders as best they could. Chopper's tears soaked into Marcy's jacket as a beautiful reassuring hum began to dance through his tiny body.

"JUST SHUT UP AND COME WITH US!" Luffy screamed to the heavens. Chopper sobbed harder.

"You heard the boy." Marcy whispered and Chopper nodded.

"O.K.!"

* * *

After Chopper managed to calm down, he took off to pack his things and say his goodbye's, leaving his new crew and family outside waiting. Marcy glared at the ground in thought while the others talked. Something inside her made it clear that she should tell them about the visit she had from . . . Sesi, but she didn't want too. She didn't want them to point pout the fact that she was blindly listening to the words of a being who had left it unclear about her intentions towards Marcy and them, but it was her only lead.

"Marcy?" Vivi's soft voice pulled her attention back to the group. Everyone was staring at her, except for Sanji who was lying on the ground unconscious. Marcy blinked at her curiously. "Is something wrong? You look very bothered."

"Yeah, Vivi's right." Ussop added, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Does it have something to with that girl from earlier?" That gained everyone's complete attention. Luffy's smile faded slightly and Nami's eye widened.

"Girl?" Vivi questioned.

"Yeah. There's this girl, well, a doll that steals bodies, she claims to be Marcy's sister and well, I'm not sure if she's with us or against us, but she's really creepy." Ussop explained. Vivi nodded in slight horrified fascination.

"And she was here? Earlier?" Vivi looked almost terrified. Marcy nodded, looking down out of embarrassment.

"Her name is Sesi. . . Well that's the name she picked for herself anyway." Marcy mumbled.

"What'd she want?" Luffy asked. His face wasn't stern and serious, but it wasn't smiling either. The expression made Marcy uneasy.

"She had information for me. . . .about the third stone." Her friends responded the way she predicted.

"You can't really believe her, right?" Nami exclaimed. "I mean, she may not have said she was our enemy, but she made it clear she didn't want to help us!"

"I'm with Nami on this." Ussop agreed. "She didn't strike me as the kind to do something for free. I suspect she only gave you that information so you would owe her and I don't think you would really want to be in debt to a person who steals bodies."

"Hold on, you two. Shouldn't you at least let Marcy tell us what Sesi told her before you decide on whether or not trust the information?" Vivi reasoned. Nami and Ussop grumbled a bit, but said nothing more. "Go on, Marcy." Marcy sighed, shuffling her feet nervously in the snow.

"She said that one of Raux's most trusted crew members is working for Crocodile as well. Sort of like a side job, but it's mainly that woman's sick idea of fun. Sesi told me that she's some guy called Bon Clay's partner."

"Bon Clay's partner? Miss Thanksgiving?" Vivi whispered. "I heard about her, but I've never met her. Very few have. I heard that she was part of a different group as well, but I wasn't sure on the validity of that. From what I know, she's completely deranged. It's believed that she has devil fruit powers but nothing has been confirmed. All that I know for sure, is that she constantly changes her physical appearance. Every aspect of it except, her eyes are always a type of green and most of her is a deep black, usually long. Nothing else about her stays the same for very long."

"A-alright. Well, what's the big deal about her anyway?" Nami demanded.

"Sesi said that she had the third stone. Raux left it with her to keep it safe." Marcy scratched at the back of her head in slight anxiety. "That woman treasures it. Considers it her sacred duty to watch the stone for Raux, says he's her beloved or something like that. Sesi told me that that woman embedded the stone into her own body, so that no one could take it away from her. . ." Everyone's face held varying degrees of shock and disgust at this. Luffy was the first to get over it.

"Well, it's a good thing we're going to go kick Crocodile's ass already! We'll get two things done at once!" Luffy grinned brightly. Zoro and Nami shot Marcy a look, neither smiled.

"You gunna tell them, or should I?" Zoro asked. Marcy glanced at him and sighed. Luffy was rambling on about how cool Marcy was going to be when she was human and all of the things they would be able to do together and experience. She didn't want to ruin his excitement.

"Luffy?" He 'hmm'ed in response. Looking at her with big blinking eyes. "I need to find two more pieces. It's not just the last stone that I need now." Luffy blinked.

"So there are more stones you need then?" Marcy shook her head.

"No. I need. . .well, I guess the other two pieces would be like a brain and a soul, possibly." Luffy blinked again before grinning with a laugh.

"You don't have a brain!" Marcy promptly began to slam her utility club (that's what she'd officially named it) into Luffy's rubber skull. In the midst of Luffy's bludgeoning, Chopper came charging towards them.

"I'M BEING CHASED!" Marcy released Luffy and raised an eyebrow. "EVERYONE HOP ON! WE'RE GOING DOWN NOW!" Without a second thought, Marcy launched herself towards the sleigh pulling reindeer. Everyone else piled into the sleigh, Marcy choose to latch herself to Chopper's back and ride him like a horse.

"THIS IS AMAZING!" She shrieked as they descended the rope down the mountain. Her grin was wider then Luffy's and she giggled happily.

"NO FAIR!" Luffy shouted. "Nami! I wanna ride on Chopper's back too!" Nami rounded on Marcy with sharp scary teeth.

"WOULD YOU GET OFF HIM!" Marcy blew a raspberry at Nami.

"You're just jealous, you witch!"

"WITCH! I'LL SHOW YOU A WITCH!" Marcy raised herself up off Chopper slightly. Just enough to firmly pat her bottom at Nami while sticking her tongue out and pylling her eyelid down. Nami roared in rage.


	15. Chapter 14

**I started up work recently and it's been taking a lot out of me, so updates are going to be slower and probably shorter until I can get back in the swing of things.**

**My stitches are also infected and I had to give my dog away. I'm miserable and hateful right now, but Writing makes me feel better so here goes nothing.**

**Also, I would like to ask my readers for ideas.**

**I need three characters, triplets to be precise. I don't need names or special abilities. I need personalities and looks. Send them to me in a message not a review. All ones in reviews will be ignored. These three will come into play in the near future. I'm just having a very hard time choosing what they look and act like.**

**VERY IMPORTANT! ****There is a rape scene in this chapter. It is NOT very detailed at all, but YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

* * *

Chapter 14

Marcy decided long ago that she did not like her friends when they were hungry. Nami was more violent. Luffy was annoying and so was Ussop. Sanji was . . . Sanji. And Zoro just slept or trained. He didn't really complain, but Marcy still didn't want anything to do with them right now. None of that helped to ease Marcy's own growing aggravation. She wasn't hungry, no it wasn't that at all. Marcy's problems lay within her own body. She was becoming a problem to herself.

This problem became obvious shortly after they had left Drum. Marcy had decided to finally take the time to properly clean her body. A task that may have sounded simple, but in fact took the better part of two days. She hadn't done this since a week or so before Luffy and friends whisked her away. It was shortly after she had finished draining her body of gel and properly scrubbing her skin. She'd seen tiny alarming hints to her problem while doing those things, but the most obvious and undeniable clue was found when Marcy began scrubbing and polishing her bones. Her major bones had cracks, chips, and a few were nearly broken. Her joints where wearing away, grinding themselves to uselessness. She found tears in the bottom layer of the cloth that made her flesh, the one that was meant to act as muscles, the stretchy layer, her stitches were fraying as well. The gel in her body had become so diluted that it was more of a rubbery paste.

All in all, Marcy's body was reaching the point of no repair.

If then and there she could have gotten her hands. . . Hand on the proper materials, she would have been salvageable. The only problem was that the proper materials were not on this ship nor would they be in any of the poor desert towns they would be going through. Even if they were, Marcy suspected she would not have more then a few moments to work on repairs and repairs would take hours of continuous work. Mending her bones and flesh properly was a very tedious task even when the damage was minimal.

High up in the crow's nest, Marcy's newly claimed home since she hadn't left for several days, she glared at herself. A hard task to accomplish, she decided, but she was managing it. After all, she'd had days to work on it. If anyone had looked at her face properly, they would have seen that her pastle eyes were crossed, each looking at the other. The rest of her face was completely neutral. Even for her, a doll whose eyes weren't connected to anything instead just crammed snuggly into sockets, keeping her eyes looking at each other was proving difficult. A soft inaudible whisper was carried away on the wind. Marcy ceased her glaring and rolled her eyes.

"I am not being hard on myself." No voice sounded a response, but Marcy nodded her head with a sigh.

"I know. It's just. . .I'm like you. . . Damage just keeps building up and when it becomes too much. . . What's left to do, but to throw me away?"

_No_

The voice was barely audible. Not even barely, it was like the fluttering of butterfly wings, but to Marcy who had been listening so intently, this whisper was like a scream.

"Sorry. I was being dramatic. But honestly, I doubt my body will last through much more. It wasn't crafted to survive a pirate's life. I'll need a new one soon and I don't know of anyone who could build me one."

_Don't worry_

Marcy twitched on that one, it was softer then the last one, but still, she wasn't expecting an audible voice to speak to her. Vaguely Marcy wondered if the others could hear Merry. She knew better though. They couldn't hear her because they weren't listening. No one was ever listening for the voices of the voiceless. They only heard them when things became dire. With a tenderness uncommon for the doll, a satin hand stroked the wood of the crow's nest.

Marcy didn't bother paying attention to much of anything. She didn't notice when the crew pulled a freak out of the ocean or when he showed off his powers. She resolutely ignored Merry when she whispered for Marcy to look. She wasn't interested in whatever wierd things her friends were up to. Instead, she watched the waves and the clouds passing them by. The only thing that drew Marcy's attention back to the world was a ship. An ugly ship that moved exceptionally fast. But it wasn't the ship or the ugly okama that leapt from the Merry to that one that got her undivided attention. No, none of that really registered. What had Marcy's attention was a woman more beautiful then anything Marcy had ever seen.

This woman was tall and curvy without being freakishly so in either aspect. Her fair flowed to her lower back like a silky shadow. This woman's skin was so perfect and pale that porcelain doll's were likely to shatter in their jealousy of her. Lips a seductive red and eyes a flirtatious green styled like a cats where held in a face so soft yet so defined that none of it could be properly described. She was perfection in it's greatest form. Too beautiful to be living, but too bright with the shimmer of life to anything but.

Then she felt it. A fluttering desire to be as close to this beauty as possible. A near painful feeling that told Marcy she and the woman belonged together. It frightened her. She became even more frightened when this indescribable goddess turned her head and met Marcy's glass eyes. The woman quirked a smile, showing she felt the urge as well. She raised a slender delicate hand and with a single finger, tapped a blood red pointed nail against a stone protruding from her flesh under the hollow of her throat, between her breasts. With her gaze and motion of her hand, she made it clear that the stone in her breast was what had Marcy's heart calling for the goddess.

Marcy stared, face blank in confused amazement. As the ship sped away, the two kept their gaze locked until realization dawned on her. An image then flashed before the doll's eyes. She threw herself back into the crow's nest, trembling, horrified, unable to process the image she had just been shown. It was sickening and bewildering. she didn't know why the image flashed before her eyes, but something told Marcy she would soon find out. After a while, Marcy gathered her courage and focused on the image, letting it fill her sight once more.

The beautiful goddess's face shattered like porcelain, which it could very well have been made out of, revealing a rotting or maybe mummified face underneath. Fake eyes had been forced into the socks were real eyes had decayed from. There were no lids to cover them so they protruded huge and unnatural. What little flesh was left clinging to bones was brownish yellow with patches of dark oozing green. The bones were black decaying to near crumbling. Teeth with strings of flesh clinging to their roots were revealed. Wriggling shiny silver threads burrowed at random into the decayed mass. Each slender strand had a shine of continously changing color.

Marcy could no longer hold it back, she screamed in complete horror, pulling herself into a ball. The doll didn't stop screaming even when she was hauled from the crow's nest by her terrified friends. She didn't stop screaming when they cradled her and cooed sweet things to her.

She just kept screaming.

And eventually, Marcy's heart gave out and surrendered her to the black oblivion.

Though she was still and quiet, her screams echoed in the ears of her friends. Her terrified expression was burned in their minds. Not a single one of them knew what had happened or why. And each one was terrified for the doll. They all shared a long look, not daring to speak. Luffy took Marcy from Vivi's cradling hold, his hat shadowing his eyes and his mouth set in a frown. Not a large one like his usual pouts, but a small tight one that showed his pain at the doll's behavior. Luffy carried her wordlessly to the girl's room and laid her on the bed. Ussop and Chopper came down moments later. Ussop there to put a new stone in her heart, Chopper there to watch. Luffy stood silently in the room not moving as he watched.

He couldn't stand not knowing how to help his friends. His chest tightened painfully, as he admitted to himself that he rarely knew how to help Marcy. He'd thought at first, in a most childish fashion, that Marcy would rarely get hurt. That she would be the most stable of them all, the most unscathed. But she wasn't. Luffy realized that, early in thier journey. Her inguries weren't healing, they just became patches, streams of stitches, and an odd replacement hand. He noted with another tingle of pain, that she was rapidly becoming less and less social. She spent most of her time in the crow's nest, whispering. She did come down and socialize, but it wasn't as often as before.

"It's alright, Chopper, you can come closer." Ussop said softly to the reindeer. Slowly in a nervous manner, the little doctor came closer. Placing his hooves on the side of the bed and standing on his toes to watch Ussop as he worked. "Untie this bow here and then pull it loose." Chopper watched intently, still amazed by the doll. "Twist this clasp and it unlocks her ribs. Just lift this side a enough for your hand to go in and grab her heart." His eyes widened in amazement and slight morbid fascination as Ussop slide his hand into the doll, before pulling a humming heart shaped lumped of rusted metal out. "The threads are strong so don't worry about tearing or breaking any. This clasp here gets twisted, then you can just lift this part up and change the gem." Chopper fell backwards to the ground, his face white and his tongue hanging out. "Ugh, Chopper? You okay?"

"I-I can't. It's just not right." Ussop half grinned at the reindeer.

For the first time since she was on her home island, the dark oblivion was not so dark. It was filled with flashing images, all of the rotting corpse sealed inside that beautiful goddess. Marcy found herself wishing for the nothingness back. She preferred it. After what felt like an eternity to Marcy, those images faded and something else began. It was a memory, but not one of her own. It was one of Sesi's, Marcy was sure of that.

* * *

_Marcy gazed through the eyes of her sister. She was walking, actually walking down a wooden hall that swayed slightly. They were on a ship, she supposed. She was going somewhere specific. She was wanted to see the new toy to be that Raux had brought on board._

_From what she had heard, this one was a young girl. A very pretty one at that. She'd heard the men on the crew talking about how much they enjoyed this one. They said something about her being a better lay then the others. She didn't know what that meant, but maybe she would find out when she met the girl. And if she didn't, she could always ask Raux. She was just happy that finally another girl would be joining the crew. There was talk of her becoming the procelain doll of their crew._

_Marcy finally found the door she was looking for. With a bright grin on the face of the body she was possessing, she tried to open the door. _

_It was locked._

_The doors to the new toys room's were never locked._

_Noting this odd happening, Marcy pressed an ear to the door listening. From inside the room, she could hear an odd repetitive sound. Almost like a slapping sound. She could her a choking sob, heavy breathing, and wood groaning._

_Child-like curiosity won over reasoning and Marcy forced the door open just a bit. Her borrowed eyes went wide with shock. She didn't understand what she was seeing._

_It was Raux and the new girl. Marcy guessed it was the new girl based on the description she had heard the other men give. They were both completely naked. Raux was on top of the girl, his back mostly facing Marcy, giving her a view of the long grotesque scar on his back. He was holding a long shapely pale leg up in the air at a painful angle, the other leg of the woman, hung awkwardly at his waist, bent in an angle that made it obvious it was broken. His other hand was curled tightly around the woman's throat. His body was rocking forward and back with enough force to make the bed shift, creak, and groan._

_Tears poured from the woman's bright crystal blue eyes, her beautiful face was cut and bruised. Her perfect body was broken and covered in infected oozing cuts. There was a burned stump where an arm should have been._

_Marcy didn't know how long she had stood there staring in confused horror at this scene, but eventually Raux pressed himself tightly against the girl and stayed like that for a moment. The girl cried harder. When that moment passed, Raux released her throat and leg, looking sadistically pleased, but not very satisfied._

"_Why?" A broken voice that could have once been so beautiful cried. Raux looked down at the woman with a bored sneer._

"_You said you wanted to be part of my crew. You begged and pleaded. Said you'd do anything at all." He leaned down, crushing her body with his before dragging his tongue through a particularly nasty cut on her neck. "This is the cost of being part of my crew. Once your body is too broken and scarred to be pleasurable anymore, then I'll give you the gift of being a beautiful perfect doll forever. But until then." Raux grabbed a blade from beside the girl and slide it between them as he leaned back. He licked his lips watching hungrily, the girl began pleading and sobbing. _

_Marcy ran._

_She ran as fast as she could and she didn't look back._

_She had never seen Raux like that before. He told her that he loved all of his crew, that they were his children. But that poor girl, all to be a part of this crew, they were doing such horrendous things to her. Marcy froze, a near deathly terror filled her._

_She wasn't yet officially part of the crew._

_The door behind her creaked open before being slammed shut and locked. Wide eyes turned slowly to gaze up at Raux, who wore only his pants, his shirt was thrown casually over his shoulder. He grinned down at Mary, dropping his shirt to the ground before advancing on her._

_It was then that her hate for Raux bloomed like hideous weeds in a beautiful garden._

* * *

Marcy sprang from the darkness, throwing her body out of the bed before curling into a ball on the floor, shivering. After a few moments of that, Marcy made her way to the deck. As soon as she got there, Luffy pounced on her with a sharpie and a roll of bandages. He drew an x on her remaining forearm before sloppily twisting bandages over the mark.

"Umm, huh?" Was the only thing Marcy could say. Chopper came over and began rewrapping the bandage, while Ussop explained.

"We meet Mr. 2 while you were up in the crow's nest, he's got the ability to become like us, looks and voice and all. To make sure we can always tell each other apart we've all put this mark on our arm."

"That's a brilliant idea, Ussop!"

"Actually, Zoro's the one who thought of it."

"Wow!" Marcy turned to Zoro with wide sparkling eyes. "I didn't know his brain even worked!" Zoro bashed Marcy with a sheathed sword. Marcy swung her club of an arm at him. Zoro ducked and Marcy began stomping a foot and shrieking odd nonsense at him.

When they reached land, Luffy beat Marcy off the ship only by a few seconds, though she veered off in a different direction, leaving Zoro and Nami screaming at her retreating form. Marcy received frightened stares from everyone she passed, but she could have cared less. She was on a hunt for authentic clothing from this place. It may have been an odd thing to count as top priority at the moment, but hunting for high quality clothing from this culture would help Marcy forget the stomach churning scene of pure vileness that she witnessed in her slumbering state.

Marcy tore through shop after shop, looking over everything that caught her eye. She only planned to buy one outfit, but she wanted to see all the different styles and what not incase she decided she wanted to stitch together something similar.

The final shop she entered was small but everything was very high quality. she bought only one outfit from this store, the only thing she bought actually. The main color of the outfit she choose was an aqua type of blue accented with ivory and silver. The bottom was a pair of pants, big and billowy made of a sheer ivory fabric that was held to her ankles by a silver clasp of metal with a dragon etched into each that matched the belt that hung on her hips. Underneath the see through pants, Marcy had a pair of rather tiny agua shorts. Her top was sports bra like with a band of sliver underneath her breasts, it had no straps. Over that she wore a cropped jacket of the same see through material as her pants. The sleeves of the jacket were long and flowing split down the middle over the top of her arm until it reached an inch before her shoulder. The sleeves hung free from there until they connected to a silver band around Marcy's wrists. On her feet she wore ivory sandals with silver clasps.

To finish her outfit, Marcy pulled her up with a silver clamp that had an ivory and blue dragon etched into it. Her hair stuck up from the top of the clamp in spikes and flips resembling brush strokes of black ink.

Satisfied with her new outfit, Marcy pranced happily off to find her friends. She grinned when she found them, and giggled happily when she noticed they all had taken to wearing traditional clothes. She found herself rather adoring of the skimpy clothing the women of thier had taken to wearing.

"You two look amazing!" She cooed as she circled Nami then Vivi, admiring the way the outfits worked in their favor.

"I like your outfit too, Marcy." Vivi said with smile. Marcy gave her a 'well, duh' type of look.

"Who picked these out?"

"I did!" Sanji cried, expecting praise.

"Figures." Marcy snorted. "Glad I got an outfit on my own."

"But Marcy, My precious daughter, Papa bought an outfit for you too and it's much better then the one you're wearing!" Sanji thrust an outfit into the doll's face. His outfit of choice would have covered almost the entirety of Marcy's body. In fact, to Marcy, it looked more like a brightly colored young man's outfit. She glared at Sanji.

"Why did you pick sexy outfits for Nami and Vivi, but not for me?"

"Because Nami and Vivi should flaunt their beautiful bodies. You shouldn't."

"And why is that?"

"Because you're my precious daughter and you're too young to be showing your body."

"Sanji, shut the hell up. I'm more then twice everyone's combined age. Now get rid of that outfit before I decide to walk around naked instead." Sanji did so with a horrified stare.

For some reason, no one doubted that Marcy would strip and walk around without a care in the world.


	16. Chapter 15

Sorry for the long delay. I've been going through a lot and was planning on just abandoning this story, but then I went through and read the reviews (all of them). Some of them were so very nice and made me happy. I'll give this story another shot and update as often as I can, but that may be only once a month or less. Anyway. Welcome back Marcy and the Strawhats~! This chapter will have a bonus at the end.

* * *

Chapter 15

While Vivi gave her speech and explanation, Marcy watched with a dull expression as Luffy appeared in the distance being chased by a group of marines. With a sigh, she gathered up a few bags of their supplies and walked casually in the direction of the Merry. Ussop turned around and watched Marcy.

"Eh? What are you doing Marcy?" She waved her club of a hand over her shoulder casually. "We're waiting for Luffy."

"You'll understand in just a moment." She continued her walk, whistling a happy tune. Ussop turned to look at the others, who shrugged in response and turned back to Vivi. Moments later, Luffy called out to them and began leading the marines straight for them.

"That's what she meant!" They gathered up their supplies and turned to catch up with Marcy, who had stopped and began blinking owlishly at something. Following her lead, they all turned back to see a shirtless man in a cowboy hat standing between Smoker and Luffy.

"Who is that?" Zoro asked, more like demanded.

"What a babe~!" Everyone's jaw dropped and they stared at Marcy like she was deranged. She pressed her remaining hand to her cheek and wiggled slightly, a reaction that reminded them all of Sanji when he sees a sexy lady. Zoro's teeth began to grind together and Sanji's leg itched to beat the indecent man into the ground for soiling his daughters pure eyes with his brazen display of nudity! No woman wants to see this horrid display. Sanji clamped a hand over Marcy's eyes and tucked her under his arm. All of their supplies being thrown to Zoro.

In rebellion, Marcy used her fantastic ability to see even with her eyes covered. She'd recently dubbed this ability as Lookout. Since she mainly used it when she did night watches. Her vision was still off due to the cracks in her eye, but she could see the fight between the shirtless cowboy and Mr. Cigars back there.

She sighed in a content manner as she was placed in a seated position on the railing of the Merry. Everyone was rushing around, except Sanji who had placed himself in front of her preparing for a lecture. Before Sanji could utter a single word, Marcy pressed her club of a hand against his mouth in a very light, yet terrifying manner. She cast a dreamy smile in the direction of the town.

"I just saw my one true love." Her breathless sigh made tears pour from Sanji's eyes. His precious daughter was too young to be in love! "Our children are sure to be the most gorgeous ever born~!" The horrifying image fluttered through Sanji's mind, stopping to shake it's goods in face like an over old over weight harlot. Foam erupted from his mouth and he hit the deck, twitching. Nami sighed at the display.

"We all should have seen this coming." She pressed fingers to her temple, feeling a head ache coming on. "After all the time she spends listening to Sanji. I guess we're just lucky she's doing it to men and not women." Zoro grunted in response, still not happy with this new revelation. He felt protective, or maybe it was possessive?, of Marcy. After all, she was a member of the crew and too much of a child to have such feelings. She didn't need romance in her life. Zoro had to choke back vomit at the mere thought of this, but for once when it came to Marcy, he had to agree with Sanji. Marcy was NOT ready for love. And Zoro would be damned if he let some man near their precious doll.

As soon as everyone was on the ship, Marcy pounced on Luffy. She threw her arms around his neck, careful not to hit him her club hand, and smiled dreamily up at him. Luffy placed his hands on her hips in an absent minded gesture and grinned down at her, confused about the sudden affection, but enjoying it none the less. Sanji hissed like an angry cat. Marcy drooling over one man today was enough, she didn't need to be throwing herself at that idiot captain too.

"Luffy, my awesome Captain, tell me, who was that gorgeous man back there in town?" Luffy blinked for a moment, scratching his head in thought.

"You mean Smokey?"

"I mean the one with the cowboy hat~!" Luffy's eyes lit up and his grin got bigger.

"That's Ace! He's my brother!" Marcy twirled away from Luffy, smiling blissfully with her hand and club over her heart and eyes closed.

"Luffy, you should have told me you had such hunk for a brother~!" She spun back around to face Luffy. Everyone else's face turned slightly green, Sanji fought against foaming at the mouth again. He sight was too much for them though Luffy seemed oblivious. "T-" Zoro's hand clamped down tight over Marcy's mouth. She glared at him, eye twitching.

"I'm not really surprised you have a brother, but why is he in the Grand Line?" Marcy bite down on his hand. Zoro flinched before pinching her lips together and pulling hard. Muffled howls of pain left Marcy as she was jerked around by her lips. This had become such a common occurrence between the two that no one paid them any mind.

"He's a pirate. He's looking for the One Piece." Marcy slammed her club hand down into Zoro's elbow. A loud snapping sound echoed. Zoro bit his lip turning to glare at the doll who stuck her tongue out. She really was coming to love her club like appendage. It was a really good weapon. Zoro pounced on Marcy, pinching her tongue between his fingers and grinning wickedly at the now slightly panicked doll. Luffy went on like there wasn't a childish brawl going on before him. "Ace is three years older then me, so he left the island three years earlier." Zoro drew a katana and pressed it against her tongue. Ussop sighed and moved closer to them.

"I think you two might be taking things a little far. I mean y-" Ussop howled in pain as Marcy's club hand smashed in his knee cap.

"Thflay owetta theesth." Zoro glared down at Marcy as spit splattered on the hand holding her tongue. Why did she, a doll, have spit anyway? Ussop rolled on the ground clutching his knee while Chopper rushed over panicking, waving his bag around. Sanji ,paid them no mind. He wasn't coming to his rebellious daughter's aide. She needed to be punished.

"What are the odds of the both of you eating Devil Fruit?" Sanji cringed when he heard angry pained howling coming from Marcy. Zoro made a sickened noise and dropped the light red appendage to the deck. He hadn't meant to cut her tongue off, but she'd wiggled so much that well his hand slipped. Marcy grabbed her tongue and waved it in his face making gurgling sounds that were probably meant to be words. Chopper screamed in panic and left Ussop to tend to Marcy. Marcy whimpered pathetically, until a certain shirtless cowboy jumped onto the ship, knocking Luffy off the railing.

"Hey everyone, thanks for taking care of my brother." Marcy rushed up to Ace, happily wiggling her hips.

"Iggs ougga pwagalem!" Everyone just stared at her, confused. Ace scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry. I couldn't understand that." Marcy held up a finger to him before slipping a needle from behind her ear, sticking out what was left of her tongue and reattaching the rest of her tongue. Ace watched in morbid fashion, slightly concerned that no one seemed alarmed by this display. He shrugged it off though. Weird things happen in the Grand Line.

"I said, 'it's not a problem.'" Marcy shot him her most charming smile, which was a tab bit more creepy then she probably realized. Ace grinned back at her. "I'm Marcy." She batted her eyes and Ace noted that the blonde and green haired men were glaring at him.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ace, Luffy's brother obviously." Marcy wiggled about for a moment making quiet squealing noises. "With that display, I guess you've eaten a devil fruit too, huh?" She shot him grin.

"Nope, Cowboy, I'm just a living doll." She inched a little closer, winking an eye at him. "A fully functional one, if you know what I mean~!" Ace grinned a little bigger. Before Ace could respond, Marcy was snatched away by the blonde man who began to cuddle her with tears running down his face. The man sobbed things along the lines of 'my daughter shouldn't know how to imply such things' and 'I won't let you loose your purity to a vulgar man, even if he is that shitty captain's brother'. Ace merely raised an eyebrow before turning back to Luffy.

"Anyways, I'm glad I saw you. I'm here for a silly little task so I figured I'd try to meet up with you." Marcy began bashing Sanji with her club like hand, shouting things about him getting in the way of her love. Ace's eyebrow went up a little higher. "Luffy. Will you come join the Whitebeard pirate crew? With your friends of course."

"Of course!" Marcy shouted still trying to wiggle away from Sanji. She received a swift bash to the head by one of Zoro's katanas. In response, she bit down onto his fore arm, growling like an angry beast. Ignoring the three, everyone else carried on.

"No way." Luffy said, laughing at the sight of Marcy gnawing on Zoro's arm while cracking the sobbing Sanji over the head with her club.

"Ahahahahahah. Just thought I'd ask." Ace gave up on being surprised. It figured that Luffy would attract a crew of complete odd balls.

"W-whitebeard? S-so the mark on your back. . .is real?" Ussop asked, still incapable of standing up. He was pretty sure Marcy had broken something.

"Yes, it's my pride and joy. . ." Marcy released Zoro's arm from her mouth to sigh about dreamy and dedicated her love was. . . Before swinging her club at Zoro and catching him in the stomach with it. "Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I've ever known. I want to make him the Pirate King. Not you, Luffy!" Sanji received a knee to the groin. With both men down, Marcy latched onto Ace's arm.

"That's okay! I'll just fight him!" It was then that Luffy noticed Marcy. A pout pulled at his mouth. "Marcy~! Why are you cuddling Ace!? You're my doll, not his!"

"I think she likes me more then you, Luffy." Marcy wiggled around happily when Ace stroked her hair.

"What! That's not fair! She's in my crew. Go find your own doll Ace!" Marcy's arms coiled tighter around Ace.

"Nuh uh! I'm the only doll Ace is allowed to play with!"

"But that's no fair! I wanna play with you too!"

"You can, stupid! Ace'll just play with me differently then you."

"Oh. Okay!" Luffy grinned, glad he still had a doll to play with. "That's fine then. Ace can play with you sometimes, but I get to play with you whenever I want." Marcy nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like an interesting idea." Ace replied twisting strands of silky smooth hair around his fingers.

"Like hell!" Zoro and Sanji snatched Marcy away.

"No one's allowed to play with Marcy! She's too young and too pure for the likes of you, you Vulgar bastard!"

"Vulgar?" Ace blinked. How was he vulgar when that guy was shouting the word 'bastard'?

"Yes, vulgar, you shitty bastard! Walking around half dressed enticing and tainting my pure daughter with your sexual intentions! No man is ever allowed to bed Marcy! She's a precious gem that I won't allow you to sully!" Marcy tackled Sanji and began beating him again.

"Papa's don't interfere with their daughters love!"

"When they know it's bad they do!"

"Then I'll beat Papa until he knows it's right!"

"Why is my daughter so violent!" Ace felt a drop of sweat roll down the back of his neck.

"I don't think I understand."

"I doubt those two understand either." Ace turned his eyes to Nami. "Why don't you come inside if you want to talk? I'll make some tea and we can let them beat each other until they get bored."

"Oh no, don't worry about me. This'll just take a minute." Though, looking back at the commotion, Ace realized it may take longer then he expected. Luffy was cheering for Marcy.

It took a while, but the fighting stopped. Ace wasn't surprised when Marcy was declared the winner. She seemed rather formidable.

"Luffy." Said boy turned to Ace with a curios expression. "Here. Always keep that with you." Luffy unfolded it and looked it over every which way.

"It's a piece of paper." He wasn't very amazed.

"Yup. That paper will let us meet again."

". . . Wow. . ." Luffy really wasn't impressed.

"Don't want it?"

"No! I do!" Marcy watched, wondering if her and Sesi could ever truly behave like sisters. Marcy doubted it. She had a tight feeling in her stomach that spoke of Sesi being more interested in her own plans then Marcy's needs. This sister act was probably just to get on her good side. Green glass eyes gazed at Ace for a moment, her interest in him suddenly fading. She wandered into the cabin in search of food.

* * *

The trek to Yuba was uneventful to say the least, well to Marcy it was. She could feel sand working it's way into her body and that made her beyond uncomfortable. She didn't like sand anymore. Sand was evil.

She gave the hot sand beneath her feet a harsh kick.

"Evil, smelly sand." She kicked the sand again. "I'll come back and conquer you later." One more kick and her toes meet a crumbled piece of wall with a shattering crunch. Marcy squealed in pain, hopping around and holding her more then likely shattered toes. Everyone ignored her in favor of looking at the desolate Yuba. She gazed at the old man for a moment, before her gaze twisted and swirled into a memory not her own.

* * *

_She was being washed ashore. Lifeless, unable to move, only able to see. She saw a blue sky, the tips of palm trees. A few birds flew over head cawing as they went. A cloud charted a lazy path through the sky. Marcy felt content. She could gaze at this sight till her body rotted away and be happy. _

_But that was not to be. Something knocked into her, sent rolling, tumbling across the sand till she stopped on her stomach, face turned to the side. In the distance she could see two men. One was father. Her brilliant father. The other was someone she didn't yet know. This man looked like her father, but he was so much more sinister. _

"_You monster." Her father whispered, broken. "Look at what you've become!"_

"_Why should I look now? I haven't even really gotten started."_

"_Tell me how, you sick bastard!" Ryuuden snarled, stepping closer to the other man. "How are you standing? How did you survive!? And what the hell did you do to Godric!" The other man laughed._

"_Survive? That was a hard one. I nearly didn't make it, after all you did tear out a good chunk of my spine." He said it sweetly, like a happy memory. "It's a rather touching story, really. While laying on the beach half dead, a young boy took me back to his home to try and save my life. He fed me a strange fruit that tasted rather like shit. It was immediate. I could feel a foreign power dancing in my veins. So of course I had to try it out. And there just happened to be a healthy young test subject at my side." He grinned, licking his lips. "After a moment, the boy crumbled to the ground, crying in pain, yet I felt fully restored. It was amazing. Once I was sure the effects where permanent, I tried my powers on the rest of the village." He flexed hands that didn't properly fit with his body. "Turns out that boy fed me the Attribute Attribute Devil fruit. It allows me take any attribute at all from anything and give it to anything of my choosing." He motioned behind him to a tree with bark made of glass. To a dog with feathers instead of fur. "Of course doing this to living things is agonizing. Mentally for some, physically for others." He rolled his shoulders, looking bored. "As for Godric, well let's say that I have need of the attribute of life." Tears streamed down Ryuuden's cheeks._

"_You killed him then."_

"_No. Don't be stupid. He's not dead, just not alive. Kind of like a big fleshy doll. I'll have use for him later, so he's in storage right now."_

"_I'll kill you!" The other man let out a deranged giggle._

"_No you won't~!"_

"_AND WHY THE HELL WON'T I!?" Ryuuden made to lunge forward, but found he couldn't move. He couldn't even feel his body._

"_Because, as soon as you came with in ten feet of me, my tendrils burrowed into you and I began stripping away your life attribute. Won't be long before you become inanimate, just like Godric."_

"_Raux. One day, you'll create something that will rip you to pieces. And whether from hell or heaven, I'll be watching and I'll laugh." With that Ryuuden came to a halt, like a masterfully made statue._

"_Put him on the ship with the other." Raux ordered as a bunch of grotesque near human creatures wandered their way out of the forest. Raux turned toward the discarded doll and began a leisurely trek to her while the abominations dragged away the now lifeless body of Ryuuden. Raux picked up the small doll. "Soon, I'll have the whole world at my feet." Tenderly he brushed tangled, salt water drenched strands of silk back out of the dolls face. "I can't have Mary, but I can have you, her fragile likeness."_

_The memory twisted and shattered, reforming much further in the future. _

_Marcy sat brushing her long blonde hair. Her new body was so beautiful, so womanly. Raux liked it far better then when she stole the bodies from children. But Marcy preferred a child's body. It felt more natural to be in tiny form. And if it deterred Raux's sexual desire for her, then all the better. _

_She longed for her freedom. She longed for her childish innocence back. She longed for this burning anger to disappear from her body. She longed for the life she knew her stupid counter part was living far away on distant peaceful little island._

_More importantly, she longed to lather her hands in whatever bodily fluids was left in that porcelain freak's moldy corpse. That whore was constantly getting in her way and challenging her. Like Marcy cared if the bitch wanted Raux all to herself. She could have him. Marcy didn't want him at all._

_The door to her room creaked open and Marcy prepared for it to be Raux, calling on her to tend to his needs again. _

_It wasn't Raux._

_It was something that had been kept in the cages. That was obvious by how filthy it looked and how mangled some of it's body was. Things locked in the cage tended to maul each other. This one though, was mostly human._

_Somewhere among the mixed matched body parts and mangled chunks of flesh, she recognized two distinct people. She could see Ryuuden in that thing. And she could see Godric._

"_Raux's precious one." The thing came forward, hunched and bent, dragging a leg. "No. Ryuuden's precious one. . . Ryuuden's gift to his beautiful child. . . Ryuuden's precious gift." Marcy moved back, but it didn't move to her, it moved her true body, laying on the table near her bed. She snatched it up, clutching it to her chest. "Yes. . .The doll is alive now. . . Stealing just like the monster who tainted it." Marcy stared at him, frightened and unsure._

"_What do you want?" _

"_Make Raux pay. . . Make Raux suffer."_

"_Why come here then?"_

"_Raux's favorite. . . Take away the favorite. . . He'll destroy himself to get it back. . . Take away you."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Set you free. Let you escape." It's only working hand, one with crooked fingers where the ring and pinky finger are far longer then the others, reached forward. "Killed the guards. . . . Ate the guards. . . . Have the keys to your shackles. . . To the doors. . .Set you free and you run. . . Run and never come back to him." Marcy stepped back again. Frightened by this creature._

"_Raux will know as soon as I leave this room."_

"_We. . . I. . . Stay and occupy them. Precious gift will run." It smiled at her. Deformed eyes twinkling with a light she could almost remember. Marcy swallowed her fear and grabbed it's outstretched hand._

"_What did he do to you two?"_

"_Don't remember. Can't remember. Just remember our love for Mary and Lucy. Just remember the precious dolls Ryuuden made. Just remember love." It released her hand and ambled out the door. Marcy waited a moment before following suit. She cast the creature a broken look as it stretches to it's full size and began tearing into approaching guards._

_Marcy ran, cutting down anything that got in her way. Tears rolling down her stolen cheeks. A broken sob escaped her lips as she heard the creature howling out in pain._

"_ALWAYS OURS! NEVER YOURS! RAUX LOSE AGAIN! RAUX ALWAYS LOSE!" _

_Marcy didn't look back, couldn't look back._

* * *

"It's only been three years. Who cares if it hasn't rained!?" Marcy blinked at the old man before looking up into the sky. It had rarely rained back at her home, but they were on a small island with several lakes and rivers. This was a desert. "I believe the king! The Majority of the people still do!" Marcy turned and wandered off as the man began to cry. She didn't like tears. They made her feel odd inside. She wandered the sandy streets looking at what once might have been a beautiful village.

Her eyes meet black glossy ones, just like hers. They stared at her from a childish clothe face mostly buried in the sand. She bent down, forcing her hand into the sand to curl around the small soft body of the doll. As sand trickled from the doll, Marcy frowned. The small thing was missing a arm, frayed fabric and stuffing hanging there in it's place. A portion of the doll's mouth had been worn off, though that wasn't a terrible occurrence, her tiny counterpart looked like it was smirking back at her. It was missing larger portions of hair, leaving rough bald patches, and knots of tangled filthy strands.

Even now, in it's poor state, Marcy could feel the faded remnants of a child's love humming through it's tiny body. She smiled at the tiny being in her hands. Yes, to Marcy, this was a being. It had the potential to live, just like her. She pressed her lips to it's forehead, a silent promise to the small doll from the much larger one. When she pulled away, black glossy eyes shone just a bit brighter at her. Tucking it into her belt and securing it firmly, Marcy made her way back to her friends, smiling as she thought out repairs for the tiny one.

Unknown to Marcy, the hum of her heart began to fill the small doll hanging almost happily from her hip.

"Hey Marcy, what's that?" Chopper asked as he climbed onto her bed. He sat close to her side, cuddling into her without looking like he was. The small reindeer enjoyed the sound and feel of the doll's heart. It was comforting to him.

"I found her in the sand." Marcy said gently in response, carefully stitching together a new arm for the doll from fabric in her bag. "I'm going to make her good as new."

"How come?" Everyone in the room had turned to watch quietly.

"I'm not sure." Her brow furrowed. "But, I can feel it. Inside this little thing. A love that she used to know. Bright and innocent. It's beautiful and deserves to be preserved." Chopper placed a hoof onto the tattered doll in Marcy's lap. He was expecting to feel something like Marcy's rhythmic humming heart, but he felt nothing other then grimy fabric under his hoof. He looked up at her, blinking confused, almost sadly.

"I don't feel anything." Marcy blinked at him thinking for just a moment.

"It's because you're alive, it's not natural for you."

"But then how can you feel it, you're alive?" Vivi asked, coming to sit on Marcy's other side. Marcy nodded her head, pulling Chopper into her lap.

"I wasn't always. I'm technically still not. I don't die, I just kind of go to sleep." Chopper grasped the tiny doll in both his hooves. Looking at it, he couldn't help but smile, in a way it looked like a mini Marcy. It was damaged just like her, but still looked so happy. He looked up at Marcy.

"Can you make her come to life? Just like you?"

"I don't think I so." Vivi opened her mouth to say something, but Zoro cut her off.

"Good." He yawned. "One of you is enough. We don't need another freak doll running around."

"YOU JERK!" Marcy launched herself onto Zoro. "YOU RUINED THE MOMENT!" Chopper, who had been snatched out of Marcy's lap by Vivi, looked down at the doll that was looking back up at him. He smiled, laughing a little.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to that." He looked at Marcy for a moment before looking back at the doll. He swore it's eyes were shinning in mirth.

* * *

/Bonus/

Shitty Papa and Making Babies.

Marcy set the picture of her Father on the table, for everyone to see. Vivi smiled.

"He's a very handsome man. I can see a resemblance." Zoro looked over the woman and child in the photo.

"It must be hard to look in the mirror and see the face of a dead kid." Sanji kicked Zoro in the head. Marcy grinned.

"Not really. I mean, yeah. It did bother me at first, but I'm okay with it now." Marcy shrugged. Sanji scooped her up in his arms, cooing at her.

"No man should do such a thing to their precious child. I for one would never have you be a replacement for anyone! You are my one and only daughter whose purity I shall defend from all the vulgar bastards out there!" Somewhere in the distance, Ace felt a chill run down his spine.

"You're not my father." A loud shattering sound filled the cabin. Everyone could almost see Sanji's heart breaking.

"D-don't say such things. You'll hurt Papa's feelings."

"Not Papa." Sanji sunk to the floor while Marcy hopped from his arms and grasped the family photo. "This is my Papa. He built me!"

"But I took you under my wing and from your home where you stuck living the same day over and over!" Sanji shouted in response.

"Technically, that was Luffy." Nami stated, jerking a thumb at said rubber boy. Luffy threw up a peace sign and a big grin.

"Besides, my Papa took care of me."

"I do that too!" Sanji moaned from the floor.

"Wrong again." Nami mumbled, flipping through a book.

"Yeah. I'm the one who takes care of her the most. After all I do her repairs and everything." Ussop grumbled, tinkering with something odd looking. Marcy nodded her head.

"Papa made sure I didn't do anything stupid and he played with me all the time."

"I. . . Okay, well I don't really play with you, but I pamper you!" Marcy snorted.

"You feed me and try to keep me locked in the kitchen."

"Yeah. If anyone does that for Marcy, it's definitely Zoro. They are wrestling all the time." Zoro snorted at Vivi's statement.

"I'm a better father to her then you are, shitty cook."

"THAT'S A LIE!"

"I agree with Shitty Papa!" Sanji's jaw hit the floor and tears burst from his eyes. Pitifully, he crawled to Nami whimpering, 'she called me Shitty Papa.' Nami patted him lightly on the back with one hand, looking bored.

"Why do you agree with Shitty Papa?" Ussop asked, snickering.

"Cause Zoro can't be my Papa!"

"How come?" Ussop asked still laughing at the sobbing Sanji.

"Well for one, Ryuuden is my Papa. Also. . ." Marcy held up her hand with her pointer finger extended. She stuck out her tongue and winked. "Zoro's obviously my boyfriend!" Everyone fell over laughing except Zoro and Sanji, who both shot up and grabbed her shoulders.

"When the hell did I agree to be your boyfriend!? You can't decide stuff like that by yourself!" Zoro screamed shaking Marcy violently, a slight pink dusting his cheeks and nose.

"Nami's books told me that Zoro acts like a boyfriend does! So Zoro is my boyfriend!" Nami shrugged when Zoro glared at her.

"The hell do you mean!?"

"Zoro's always around me, helping me, touching me! So Zoro must love me! Which makes Zoro my boyfriend!" Zoro released her, sighing in defeat.

"That's not how it works." Marcy tilted her head, blinking at him. "Ergh. You have to ask someone to be your boyfriend not just declare them to be." Marcy nodded in understanding.

"Will you be my boyfriend?"

"No."

"I said. Will. You. Be. My. Boyfriend." She raised her club hand at him.

"And I said no." Zoro promptly had the consciousness knocked out of him. Marcy huffed.

"See! This is what Papa has been trying to protect you from! Horrible Vulgar men who'll break your precious heart!"

"Shitty Papa." Sanji met the same fate as Zoro. Both lay on the ground, Sanji on top of Zoro, twitching and moaning.

"Hey Luffy?" Luffy 'hmmm'ed in response, looking up from his food. "Will you be my boyfriend?"

"Shishishishishi! Of course!"

"Yay!" Marcy threw herself into Luffy's lap and cuddled him. "What do boyfriends and girlfriends do?" Luffy shrugged his shoulders. Marcy grinned and began chattering to him about nothing. Everyone else sighed.

"They do make a good match." Vivi said with a slightly tired and confused smile.

"Yeah. They're both stupidly naïve." Nami agreed. A low moaning 'no' sounded from Sanji. Zoro twitched a few more times, grumbling about how stupid their kids would be.

"Oh yeah!" Luffy exclaimed. "That's what they do!"

"What?" Marcy asked excited.

"Make babies!"

"How do we do that?" Marcy tilted her head. Luffy grinned brightly, standing up and pulling her out of the kitchen by her hand.

"I'll show you!" Everyone sat quietly for a moment, before what Luffy said registered and they nearly tripped over each other to chase after them.

"What the hell!?" They exclaimed upon reaching the deck. Marcy and Luffy sat, cross legged staring up into the sky. The two looked back at the rest of the crew.

"What?" Luffy asked confused.

"We're just waiting for the stork to come." Marcy grumbled annoyed with their over reactions. "You guys act like you don't how babies are made." The Merry rocked slightly as everyone dropped to the ground groaning at the stupidity.


End file.
